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Clinical Application of Fractional Flow Reserve–Guided Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Stable Coronary Artery Disease

  • Ischemic Heart Disease (D Mukherjee, Section Editor)
  • Published:
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Abstract

Revascularization in stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD) is indicated in patients on optimal medical therapy with angina and/or demonstrable ischemia and a significant stenosis in one or more epicardial coronary arteries. Angiography alone, however, cannot accurately determine the hemodynamic significance of coronary lesions, particularly those of intermediate stenosis severity. A lesion may appear significant on coronary angiogram but may not have functional significance. Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of functionally insignificant coronary artery lesions may have serious consequences; therefore, judicious decision-making in the cardiac catheterization laboratory is indicated. For this reason, it is becoming increasingly important to show that a stenosis is capable to induce myocardial ischemia prior to intervention. Fractional flow reserve (FFR) has emerged as a useful tool for this purpose. In this review, we will briefly discuss the principle of FFR, current evidence and rationale supporting its use, and comparison with other modalities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Staten Island University Hospital, 475 Seaview Ave, Staten Island, NY, 10305, USA

    Valay Parikh

  2. Saint Peter’s University Hospital, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Kanishk Agnihotri

  3. Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, Bronx, NY, USA

    Sabeeda Kadavath

  4. University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL, USA

    Nileshkumar J. Patel

  5. Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    J. Dawn Abbott

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  1. Valay Parikh
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  2. Kanishk Agnihotri
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  4. Nileshkumar J. Patel
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  5. J. Dawn Abbott
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Correspondence to Valay Parikh.

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Conflict of Interest

Valay Parikh, Kanishk Agnihotri, Sabeeda Kadavath, Nileshkumar J. Patel, and J. Dawn Abbott declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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This article does not contain any studies with human or animal subjects performed by any of the authors.

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This article is part of the Topical Collection on Ischemic Heart Disease

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Parikh, V., Agnihotri, K., Kadavath, S. et al. Clinical Application of Fractional Flow Reserve–Guided Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Stable Coronary Artery Disease. Curr Cardiol Rep 18, 32 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-016-0711-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-016-0711-3

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