Objective:To compare clinical therapeutic effects of acupuncture therapy and medication for stable angina pectoris. Methods:52 cases of coronary heart disease (CHD) patients with stable angina pectoris were randomly divided into acupuncture group (n=30) and medication group (n=22). The acupoint groups used were 1) Xinshu (BL 15) and Jueyinshu (BL 14); 2) Juque (CV 14) and Shanzhong (CV 17)

and the adjunct acupoints were bilateral Neiguan (PC 6)

Ximen (PC 4)

Shenmen (HT 7) and Geshu (BL 17). Acupuncture treatment was given once daily

2 weeks altogether. For patients of medication group

Isosorbide Dinitrate (10 mg

t.i.d.) or Metoprolol (12.5 mg/d) and Nitroglycerin (when necessary) were given for 2 weeks. Results:In regard to the improvement of patients' symptoms in the frequency and duration of angina attack and severity of pain

the markedly effective

effective and failure cases in acupuncture and medication groups were 14 and 12

13 and 6

3 and 4 cases respectively

with the total effective rates being 90.00% and 81.82% separately

and the curative effect of acupuncture group being markedly superior to that of medication group (P<0.05). No significant differences were found between two groups in changes of ECG-ST and T waves. During treatment

the rates for cease and reduction of Nitroglycerin-taking in acupuncture and medication groups were 23.3% (11/30) and 18.2% (7/22) respectively. Conclusion:Acupuncture therapy is effective in relieving CHD patients' angina pectoris.