Relationship between extent of residual myocardial viability and coronary flow reserve in patients with recent myocardial infarction.
BACKGROUND
The presence of viability in an infarct zone implies an intact microvasculature. We hypothesized that coronary flow reserve (CFR), which assesses the microcirculation, would correlate with the extent of viability in infarction zones.


METHODS
CFR was measured after stenting in 17 patients with single vessel disease >48 hours from infarction. Viability was determined with use of single-photon emission computed tomography sestamibi imaging.


RESULTS
Sestamibi uptake in the infarct zone correlated with CFR in the infarct artery (r = 0.62, P =.008) and sestamibi uptake in the infarct zone was greater in patients with normal CFR than in patients with abnormal CFR (61.9 +/- 9.1% vs 46.3 +/- 9.6%, P =.004). In addition, CFR was greater in patients with viability compared with patients without viability (2.4 +/- 1.3 vs 1.4 +/- 0.4, P =.015).


CONCLUSIONS
CFR correlates with the extent of viability after infarction. Preserved CFR in an infarct-related artery implies preserved viability.
Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville, VA 22098, USA. mragosta@virginia.edu
M
M
Ragosta
E R
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Powers
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Samady
L W
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Gimple
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Sarembock
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Beller
D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D002470:Cell Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi; D015899:Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
D019275:Radiopharmaceuticals; D017256:Technetium Tc 99m Sestamibi