Josh C. Leonard, MD

The ability to diagnose coronary artery disease (CAD) in women may be limited by the sensitivity and specificity of symptoms as well as of noninvasive testing. The choice of which test should be performed to evaluate the presence of CAD in women remains controversial. Currently American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines recommend initial evaluation with exercise electrocardiogram (ECG) testing. In a meta-analysis of 3721 women, however, exercise ECG had a sensitivity of 61% and a specificity of 70%1 as compared to 68% sensitivity and 77% specificity in men.