Coronary pressure measurement and fractional flow reserve

摘要

The shortcomings of coronary arteriography to assess the physiological significance of coron- ary stenoses have been recognised for decades, therefore, the importance of addi- tional physiological techniques is beyond doublt. One of the currently available physi- ological techniques is coronary pressure measurement, which has emerged over the past few years as a major step forward in the invasive assessment of coronary artery disease. This was partly owing to major technical progress in developing pressure monitoring guidewires and partly to a theoretical innovation, the con- cept of coronary pressure derived fractional flow reserve (FFR), which closely relates distal coronary pressure to myocardial blood flow during maximum arteriolar vasodilation.