title: Current diagnosis and management of left main coronary disease.
abstract: Left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease remains an important risk factor for increased mortality and morbidity at all stages of diagnosis and treatment of coronary artery disease. Left main stem pathology is often silent, with unpredictable presentation: as such it poses diagnostic and management challenges. This article reviews the anatomy, epidemiology and diagnosis of left main stem disease, as well as advances in multidisciplinary concepts of diagnosis and management, and summarises the outcomes of recent prospective studies comparing percutaneous and surgical revascularisation in LMCA disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Mount Sinai Medical Center, 1190 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10029, USA. Joanna.chikwe@mountsinai.org
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chikwe
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Andrew B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Goldstone
authors.forename: Arzhang
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fallahi
authors.forename: Thanos
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Athanasiou
mesh_terms: D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D017023:Coronary Angiography / Q000379:methods; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D053805:Fractional Flow Reserve, Myocardial; D006801:Humans; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization / Q000379:methods; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional / Q000379:methods