Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
November 10, 2025
Stress Cardiac MRI Reveals Hidden Angina in Clear-Artery Patients
TLDR
- Stress cardiac MRI provides a diagnostic advantage by identifying microvascular angina in patients with clear angiograms, enabling targeted treatment and improved outcomes.
- Stress cardiac MRI measures blood flow to detect small vessel problems in patients with chest pain despite normal angiogram results, changing diagnoses in 53% of cases.
- This approach significantly improves chest pain symptoms and quality of life scores, particularly benefiting women who often have undiagnosed microvascular angina.
- About half of chest pain patients with clear arteries actually have microvascular angina, which stress cardiac MRI can detect to guide proper treatment.
Impact - Why it Matters
This research matters because it addresses a critical gap in cardiovascular diagnostics that affects millions of people worldwide. Chest pain is one of the most common reasons for emergency department visits, accounting for over 6.5 million annual visits in the U.S. alone. Many patients, particularly women, are told their chest pain isn't cardiac-related when angiograms show clear arteries, leading to untreated conditions and ongoing suffering. The study demonstrates that microvascular angina is a real, measurable condition that conventional testing misses. By validating stress cardiac MRI as an effective diagnostic tool, this research could transform clinical practice, ensuring patients receive accurate diagnoses and appropriate treatment. For the estimated half of angina patients with no obstructive coronary artery disease, this represents hope for proper medical care and improved quality of life. The findings also highlight important health equity considerations, as women and historically underrepresented groups are more likely to have their cardiac symptoms overlooked or misattributed to non-cardiac causes.
Summary
Groundbreaking research presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025 reveals that chest pain may still indicate angina even when traditional coronary angiography shows clear main arteries. The study, led by Professor Colin Berry from the University of Glasgow, demonstrates that stress cardiac MRI testing can identify microvascular angina—a condition affecting small heart vessels—in approximately half of patients who previously received normal angiogram results. This functional testing approach represents a significant advancement in cardiovascular diagnostics, particularly for women who are disproportionately affected by this underdiagnosed condition.
The CorCMR trial enrolled 250 adults with chest pain but no blocked coronary arteries based on previous testing. Participants were randomly assigned to two groups: one where doctors used stress cardiac MRI results to guide diagnosis and treatment, and another where treatment decisions relied solely on angiogram findings. The results were striking—about 53% of participants received changed diagnoses after stress cardiac MRI testing, with nearly half being diagnosed with microvascular angina compared to fewer than 1% when relying on angiograms alone. More than half of those diagnosed with microvascular angina were women, highlighting the importance of this diagnostic approach for female patients who often experience different cardiovascular symptoms than men.
Most importantly, the study showed dramatic improvements in patient outcomes. Participants whose treatment was guided by stress cardiac MRI results showed substantial quality-of-life improvements, scoring 22 points higher on the Seattle Angina Questionnaire after one year compared to less than 1 point improvement in the angiogram-only group. The research, conducted at three hospitals in West Scotland, demonstrates that incorporating functional blood flow testing through cardiac MRI can lead to more accurate diagnoses and significantly better patient outcomes without serious side effects. This approach could transform clinical practice for the millions of people who experience chest pain annually, particularly those whose symptoms might otherwise be dismissed despite real underlying heart conditions.
Source Statement
This curated news summary relied on content disributed by NewMediaWire. Read the original source here, Stress Cardiac MRI Reveals Hidden Angina in Clear-Artery Patients
