Hello Hollyrsmith,

A positive nuclear stress test in this instance means that part of heart is not receiving the amount of oxygen it needs to work effectively.  You may or may not notice chest pain and other symptoms with exertion, a time when your heart needs more oxygen than at rest.

A cardiac catheterization allows a specially-trained cardiologist to go through the vessels in your groin to look at the coronary arteries in your heart to see if and where they are blocked.  This procedure allows for the re-opening of these coronary arteries by several different methods.

Cardiac caths in the past that were either clear or showed coronary artery disease that was treated does not mean that artery disease can not develop.  Because your stress test show what was likely a new problem with blood flow to your heart, you need another cath to best look at and possibly treat the new problem

Please discuss these results with your primary care physician, as he can help explain  these new results!

Hope this helps.

To your health,

Neil MD