Przepływ w gałęzi przedniej zstępującej lewej tętnicy wieńcowej u pacjentów z marskością wątroby

Introduction. Although cardiac function appears normal in patients with cirrhosis at rest, cardiac function deteriorates in these patients under stress conditions. Decreased cardiac function against stress may be due to coronary microvascular dysfunction in these patients. In this study, we aimed to evaluate coronary microvascular dysfunction in patients with cirrhosis by measuring coronary flow reserve (CFR) by transthoracic echocardiography. Materials and methods. Thirty-eight patients with cirrhosis and 32 healthy subjects (as control group) were examined. In addition to standard two-dimesional (2D) and Doppler echocardiography, coronary flow velocity was measured by pulsed-wave Doppler from the middle to the distal part of the left anterior descending artery at the beginning and after dipyridamole infusion in the hyperemic state. CFR was measured as the ratio of hyperemic peak diastolic flow rate to basal peak diastolic flow rate. Results. CFR was significantly lower in the cirrhosis group than in the control group (2.01 ± 0.31 and 2.84 ± 0.62; p Conclusions. Impaired CFR in patients with cirrhosis promotes coronary microvascular dysfunction. The coronary microvascular dysfunction can potentially contribute to the development of cirrhotic cardiomyopathy.