PCI guided by quantitative flow ratio improves outcomes: study
Use of a computer model to decide which lesions should be targeted also spared some patients from unnecessary procedures, researchers say
Percutaneous coronary intervention guided by mathematical modelling that predicts flow rates in the coronary arteries results in 35% fewer major adverse cardiac events than angiography alone, researchers report.
The approach does away with the need for pressure wires which can slow down procedures, they say.
A quantitative flow ratio (QFR, 0-1; 1 means no stenosis) is calculated by a computer program rather than being measured with pressure wires under induced hyperaemia.
Two different angiographic views are used by the program to build a 3D model of the patient’s coronary arteries and then fluid dynamic calculations are performed to determine locations with functional stenosis, defined as the areas with QFR of less than 0.8.
