scholarly journals Validation of Coronary Angiography-Derived Vessel Fractional Flow Reserve in Heart Transplant Patients with Suspected Graft Vasculopathy

Diagnostics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1750
Author(s):  
Niya Mileva ◽  
Sakura Nagumo ◽  
Emanuele Gallinoro ◽  
Jeroen Sonck ◽  
Sofie Verstreken ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coronary Artery Disease ◽  
Coronary Angiography ◽  
Fractional Flow Reserve ◽  
Heart Transplant ◽  
Cardiac Transplant ◽  
Fractional Flow ◽  
Flow Reserve ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Graft Vasculopathy ◽  
Artery Disease

Cardiac transplant-related vasculopathy remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in heart transplant (HTx) recipients. Recently, coronary angiography-derived vessel fractional flow reserve (vFFR) has emerged as a new diagnostic computational tool to functionally evaluate the severity of coronary artery disease. Although vFFR estimates have been shown to perform well against invasive FFR in atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, data on the use of vFFR in heart transplant recipients suffering from cardiac transplant-related arteriopathy are lacking. The aim of the presented study was to validate coronary angiography-derived vessel fractional flow reserve to calculate fractional flow reserve in HTx patients with and without cardiac transplant-related vasculopathy. A prospective, single center study of HTx patients referred for annual check-up, undergoing surveillance coronarography was conducted. Invasive FFR was measured using a motorized device at the speed of 1.0 mm/s in all three major coronary arteries. Angiography-derived pullback FFR was derived from the angiogram and compared with invasive FFR pullback curve. Overall, 18059 FFR values were extracted from the FFR pullback curves from 23 HTx patients. The mean age was 59.3 ± 9.7 years, the mean time after transplantation was 5.24 years [IQR 1.20, 11.25]. A total of 39 vessels from 23 patients (24 LAD, 11 LCX, 4 RCA) were analyzed. Mean distal vFFR was 0.87 ± 0.14 whereas invasive distal FFR was 0.88 ± 0.17. An excellent correlation was found between invasive distal FFR and vFFR (r = 0.92; p < 0.001). The correlation of the pullback tracing was high, with a correlation coefficient between vFFR and invasive FFR pullback values of 0.72 (95% CI 0.71 to 0.73, p < 0.001). The mean difference between vFFR and invasive FFR pullback values was −0.01 with 0.06 of SD (limits of agreements −0.12 to 0.13). In HTx patients, coronary angiography-derived FFR correlates excellently with invasively measured wire-derived FFR. Therefore, angiography derived FFR could be used as a novel diagnostic tool to quantify the functional severity of graft vasculopathy.

scholarly journals Do athletes play by different rules? Obstructive coronary artery disease in asymptomatic competitive Masters athletes: a case series

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
James McKinney ◽  
Nathaniel Moulson ◽  
Barbara N Morrison ◽  
Jobanjit S Phulka ◽  
Phillip Yeung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coronary Artery Disease ◽  
Coronary Artery ◽  
Coronary Angiography ◽  
Exercise Stress ◽  
Fractional Flow ◽  
Flow Reserve ◽  
Masters Athletes ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Artery Disease

Abstract Background Both the age and number of endurance Masters athletes is increasing; this coincides with increasing cardiovascular risk. The vast majority of sports-related sudden cardiac deaths (SCDs) occur among athletes &gt;35 years of age. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the most common cause of SCD amongst Masters athletes. Case summary In our prospective screening trial, six asymptomatic Masters athletes with ischaemia on electrocardiogram exercise stress testing had their coronary anatomy defined either by cardiac computed tomography or coronary angiography. Three patients underwent coronary angiography, with fractional flow reserve (FFR) testing performed when indicated. Subsequent percutaneous revascularization was performed in one patient after a shared-decision making process involving the patient and the referring cardiologist. All six athletes identified with obstructive CAD were male. The mean age and Framingham risk score was 61.8 years (±9.5) and 22.7% (±6.1), respectively. The mean metabolic equivalent of task achieved was 14.4 (±3.8). All athletes were treated with optimal medical therapy as clinically indicated. No cardiac events occured in 4.3 years of follow-up. Discussion Guidelines recommend revascularization of Masters athletes to alleviate the ischaemic substrate despite a paucity of evidence that revascularization will translate into a reduction in myocardial infarct or sudden cardiac arrest/death. Herein, although a limited study population, we demonstrate a lack of clinical events after 4.3 years of follow-up whether or not revascularization was performed. A prospective multicentre registry for asymptomatic Masters athletes with documented obstructive CAD is needed to help establish the role of revascularization in this population.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document