Noninvasive and invasive demonstration of spontaneous regression of coronary artery disease.

Spontaneous regression of a left anterior descending coronary artery lesion was diagnosed by noninvasive testing (stress electrocardiography and thallium-201 myocardial imaging) and confirmed on selective coronary angiography in a 46-year-old man. The patient's clinical improvement, normalization of stress ECG and thallium-201 imaging, together with the loss of collateral filling, confirm that the regression is genuine. This case provides evidence that regression of coronary atherosclerosis can occur in man.