title: Aortic pressures, stiffness and left ventricular function in coronary slow flow phenomenon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Coronary slow flow (CSF) phenomenon is characterized by delayed opacification of coronary vessels in a normal coronary angiogram. Although clinical and pathological features have been previously described, the underlying pathophysiology has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we aimed to evaluate central aortic pressure, aortic stiffness and left ventricular (LV) function in patients with coronary slow flow.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study population consisted of 154 patients who underwent coronary angiography because of typical and quasi-typical symptoms of angina. 81 patients with angiographically proven CSF and 73 cases with normal coronary flow pattern with similar risk profiles were enrolled in the study. Aortic pressures and indexes of elastic properties were evaluated using invasive methods. Aortic pulse pressure (mm Hg) and pulsality index of patients with CSF were found to be significantly higher than those of controls (60.8 ± 13.8 vs. 53.7 ± 14.5, p = 0.002; 0.84 ± 0.22 vs. 0.67 ± 0.18, p = 0.0001, respectively). LV Doppler parameters were deteriorated in patients with CSF. Aortic fractional pulse pressure and pulsality index were significantly correlated with the mean TIMI frame count and LV diastolic parameters in correlation analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present findings allow us to conclude that impaired aortic elasticity in patients with CSF may also be responsible for the impaired LV diastolic parameters.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Pamukkale University School of Medicine, Denizli, Turkey. drhaliltanriverdi@yahoo.com.tr
authors.forename: Halil
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tanriverdi
authors.forename: Harun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Evrengul
authors.forename: I Dogu
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Kilic
authors.forename: Ozgur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Taskoylu
authors.forename: Güllü
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Dogan
authors.forename: Seref
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Alpsoy
mesh_terms: D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001795:Blood Pressure Determination; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D004548:Elasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008055:Lipids / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054318:No-Reflow Phenomenon / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D008055:Lipids