Measurement of myocardial fractional flow reserve to assess the functional severity of coronary artery stenosis

Objective The clinical significance of coronary artery stenosis of moderate severity can hardly be determined Myocardial fractional flow reserve(FFR myo )is a new index for evaluating the functional severity of coronary stenosis Methods In 25 patients with moderate coronary stenosis who were admitted because of chest pain, the exercise test, stress echocardiography with dobutamine and quantitative coronary arteriography were performed and the results were compared with measurements of FFR myo Results In all 14 patients with an FFR0 75, reversible myocardial ischemia was demonstrated by at least one of the noninvasive tests After coronary angioplasty PTCA stent all the positive test for reversible myocardial ischemia became negative In 9 among 11 patients with FFR≥0 75,the noninvasive tests showed negative results No revascularization procedures were performed and no cardiac events were found in these patients during 6 months of follow up Conclusions In patients with coronary stenosis of moderate severity, FFR might be a useful index for evaluating the functional severity of the stenosis and the need of coronary revascularization