Appropriateness use of coronary angiography in patients with suspected ischemic heart disease in Brazil

The use of coronary angiography has undergone extraordinary expansion during the last decade but an inappropriate rate of its utilization has been reported in 0–58% of cases worldwide. In this study we showed that in a Health Care Organization in Brazil, 65.5% of elective coronary angiographies was allocated in class IIb and III of the AHA/ACC guidelines for coronary angiography for which usefulness/efficacy is less well established or is not useful or may be harmful.