[Coronary angiography: beyond coronary anatomy].
Although technical advances enable normal epicardial coronary artery blood flow to be restored in most patients suffering myocardial infarction, restoration of blood flow is not always followed by improved myocardial perfusion. Recently, therefore, interest in the assessment of myocardial perfusion has grown, and a number of different assessment methods are available. The aim of this article was to provide an evaluation of the additional information that can be obtained from the widely used technique of conventional coronary angiography. We present a review of the data on epicardial coronary artery blood flow (both semiquantitative and quantitative) and on microvascular blood flow that can be obtained using coronary angiography and discuss their prognostic significance.
Pérez de Prado
Armando
A
Sección de Cardiología Intervencionista, Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital de León, Altos de Nava s/n, 24008 León, Spain. aperez@secardiologia.es
Fernández-Vázquez
Felipe
F
Cuellas-Ramón
J Carlos
JC
Gibson
C Michael
CM
D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003326:Coronary Circulation; D006801:Humans; D008833:Microcirculation; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011379:Prognosis