A lot of people with coronary artery disease do not have specific symptoms, and myocardial infarction or death are the first manifestation of the disease. New accurate, non-invasive and safe screening methods are required that can assess the prognosis of patients during routine examinations performed on millions of people. The aim of this review was to discuss the current literature regarding the utility of non-invasive ultrasound imaging of the coronary artery in assessing a patient's prognosis in daily practice. Assessment of coronary artery flow during common stress echocardiography or echocardiography can provide additive incremental prognostic information without the burden of radiation. Exercise or pharmacologic stress echocardiography tests combined with coronary flow velocity reserve assessment has advantages over stress tests based only on regional wall motion abnormalities. Scanning of main coronary arteries as an addition to routine echocardiography can reveal patients at high risk of adverse cardiac events in the near future.

1st Department of Internal Medicine Faculty of Medicine Comenius University and University Hospital Bratislava Slovakia

2nd Department of Surgery Faculty of Medicine Masaryk University and St Annés University Hospital Brno Czech Republic

Department of Cardiology Saint Petersburg State University Saint Petersburg Russian Federation

Department of General Medicine Faculty of Medicine Slovak Medical University Bratislava Slovakia

Department of Nutrition Faculty of Nursing and Professional Health Studies Slovak Medical University Bratislava Slovakia

Faculty of Medicine University of Oviedo Central University Hospital of Asturias Oviedo Spain

Royal Lancaster Infirmary University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust Lancaster United Kingdom

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