Carol Mechem

Clinical outcome of deferring angioplasty in patients with normal translesional pressure-flow velocity measurements.

OBJECTIVES The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility, safety and outcome of deferring angioplasty in patients with angiographically intermediate lesions that are found not to limit flow, as determined by direct translesional hemodynamic assessment. BACKGROUND The clinical importance of some coronary stenoses of intermediate angiographic severity frequently requires noninvasive stress testing. Direct translesional pressure and flow measurements may assist in clinical decision making in patients with such stenoses. METHODS Translesional spectral flow velocity (Doppler guide wire) and pressure data were obtained in 88 patients for 100 lesions (26 single-vessel and 74 multivessel coronary artery lesions) with quantitative angiographic coronary narrowings (mean +/- SD diameter narrowing 54 +/- 7% [range 40% to 74%]). Target lesion angioplasty was prospectively deferred on the basis of predetermined normal values, defined as a proximal/distal velocity ratio < 1.7 or a pressure gradient < 25 mm Hg, or both. Patients were followed up for 9 +/- 5 months (range 6 to 30). RESULTS In the deferred angioplasty group, translesional velocity ratios were similar to those of a normal reference group (mean 1.1 +/- 0.32 vs. 1.3 +/- 0.55) and significantly lower than those of a reference cohort of patients who had undergone angioplasty (2.27 +/- 1.2, p < 0.05). The mean translesional pressure gradient in the deferred angioplasty group was also lower than that in the angioplasty group (10 +/- 9 vs. 45 +/- 22 mm Hg, p < 0.001). At follow-up in the deferred angioplasty group, four, six, zero and two patients, respectively, had had subsequent angioplasty, coronary artery bypass graft surgery or myocardial infarction or had died. In one patient, death was related to angioplasty of a nontarget artery lesion, and one patient with multivessel disease had a cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation 12 months after lesion assessment. Among the 10 patients requiring later angioplasty or coronary artery bypass grafting, only six procedures were performed on target arteries. No patient had a complication of translesional flow or pressure measurements. CONCLUSIONS These data demonstrate the safety, feasibility and clinical outcome of deferring angioplasty of coronary artery narrowings associated with normal translesional coronary hemodynamic variables. Given the practice of performing angioplasty without ischemic testing or when testing is inconclusive, translesional hemodynamic data obtained at diagnostic catheterization can identify patients in whom it is safe to postpone angioplasty.

Variations in normal coronary vasodilatory reserve stratified by artery, gender, heart transplantation and coronary artery disease

OBJECTIVES The purpose of the study was to assess the spectrum of coronary vasodilatory reserve values in patients with angiographically normal arteries who had atypical chest pain syndromes or remote coronary artery disease or were heart transplant recipients. BACKGROUND The measurement of post-stenotic coronary vasodilatory reserve, now possible in a large number of patients in the cardiac catheterization laboratory, is increasingly used for decision making. Controversy exists regarding the range of normal values obtained in angiographically normal coronary arteries in patients with different clinical presentations. METHODS Quantitative coronary arteriography was performed in 214 patients classified into three groups: 85 patients with chest pain syndromes and angiographically normal arteries (group 1); 21 patients with one normal vessel and at least one vessel with > 50% diameter lumen narrowing (group 2); and 108 heart transplant recipients (group 3). Coronary vasodilatory reserve (the ratio of maximal to basal average coronary flow velocity) was measured in 416 arteries using a 0.018-in. (0.04 cm) Doppler-tipped angioplasty guide wire. Intracoronary adenosine (8 to 18 micrograms) was used to produce maximal hyperemia. RESULTS Coronary vasodilatory reserve was higher in angiographically normal arteries in patients with chest pain syndromes (group 1:2.80 +/- 0.6 [group mean +/- SD]) than in normal vessels in patients with remote coronary artery disease (group 2: 2.5 +/- 0.95, p = 0.04); both values were significantly higher than those in the post-stenotic segment of the diseased artery (1.8 +/- 0.6, p < 0.007). Coronary vasodilatory reserve in transplant recipients (group 3) was higher than that in the other groups (3.1 +/- 0.9, p < 0.05 vs. groups 1 and 2) as a group and for individual arteries. When stratified by vessel, coronary vasodilatory reserve was similar among the left anterior descending, left circumflex and right coronary arteries. There were no differences between coronary vasodilatory reserve values on the basis of gender for patients with coronary artery disease and transplant recipients. In group 1 (chest pain), there was a trend toward higher coronary vasodilatory reserve in men than in women (2.9 +/- 0.6 vs 2.7 +/- 0.6, p = 0.07). CONCLUSIONS These findings identify a normal reference range for studies assessing the coronary circulation and post-stenotic coronary vasodilatory reserve in patients with and without coronary artery disease encountered in the cardiac catheterization laboratory.

Determination of Angiographic (TIMI Grade) Blood Flow by Intracoronary Doppler Flow Velocity During Acute Myocardial Infarction

BACKGROUND This study compared angiographically graded coronary blood flow with intracoronary Doppler flow velocity in patients during percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) for acute myocardial infarction. Different TIMI angiographic flow grades (flow grades based on results of the Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction trial) have been associated with different clinical results after reperfusion for acute myocardial infarction. However, intracoronary blood flow velocity has not been compared with the angiographic method of determining flow grade in patients. METHODS AND RESULTS Coronary flow velocity (measured by use of a Doppler guidewire) during primary or rescue PTCA in 41 acute myocardial infarction patients was compared with TIMI grade and cineframes-to-opacification count. Before PTCA, 34 patients had TIMI grade 0 or 1, 5 had TIMI grade 2, and 2 had TIMI grade 3 flow in the infarct artery. Flow velocity was similar among patients with TIMI grades 0, 1, or 2 but was lower than in those with TIMI grade 3 flow (9.4 +/- 5.4 versus 16.0 +/- 5.4 cm/s for TIMI grades < or = 2 versus TIMI grade 3, respectively; P < .05). After PTCA, 1 patient had TIMI grade 1, 5 had TIMI 2, and 35 had TIMI 3 flow. Poststenotic flow velocity increased from 6.6 +/- 6.1 to 20.0 +/- 11.1 cm/s (P < .01). TIMI grade 3 flow increased to 21.8 +/- 10.9 cm/s (P < .05 versus before PTCA). Although post-PTCA flow velocity correlated with angiographic cineframes-to-opacification count (r = .45; P < .02) for TIMI grade 3, there was a large overlap with TIMI grades < or = 2 that had low flow velocity (< 20 cm/s). Nine of 11 clinical events (unstable angina and coronary artery bypass graft surgery) occurred in patients with low coronary flow velocity. CONCLUSIONS Determination of flow velocity after reperfusion may enhance patient characterization and provide the physiological rationale for clinical variations after reperfusion therapy.

Role of Coronary Artery Lumen Enlargement in Improving Coronary Blood Flow After Balloon Angioplasty and Stenting: A Combined Intravascular Ultrasound Doppler Flow and Imaging Study

OBJECTIVES This study sought to examine the mechanism of increasing coronary flow reserve after balloon angioplasty and stenting. BACKGROUND Coronary vasodilatory reserve (CVR) does not improve after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty in > or = 50% of patients, postulated to be due to impaired microvascular circulation or inadequate lumen expansion despite adequate angiographic results. METHODS To demonstrate the role of coronary lumen expansion, serial coronary flow velocity (0.014-in. Doppler guide wire) was measured in 42 patients before and after balloon angioplasty and again after stent placement. A subset (n = 17) also underwent intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) imaging of the target sites after angioplasty and stenting. CVR (velocity) was computed as the ratio of adenosine-induced maximal hyperemic to basal average peak velocity. RESULTS The percent diameter stenosis decreased from (mean +/- SD) 84 +/- 13% to 37 +/- 18% after angioplasty and to 8 +/- 8% after stenting (both p < 0.05). CVR was minimally changed from 1.70 +/- 0.79 at baseline to 1.89 +/- 0.56 (p = NS) after angioplasty but increased to 2.49 +/- 0.68 after stent placement (p < 0.01 vs. before and after angioplasty). IVUS lumen cross-sectional area was significantly larger after stenting than after angioplasty (8.39 +/- 2.09 vs. 5.10 +/- 2.03 mm2, p < 0.05). Anatomic variables were related to increasing coronary flow velocity reserve (CVR vs. IVUS lumen area: r = 0.47, p < 0.005; CVR vs. quantitative coronary angiographic percent area stenosis: r = 0.58, p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS In most cases, increases in CVR were associated with increases in coronary lumen cross-sectional area. These data suggest that impaired CVR after angioplasty is often related to the degree of residual narrowing, which at times may not be appreciated by angiography. A physiologically complemented approach to balloon angioplasty may improve procedural outcome.

Abnormal Coronary Flow Velocity Reserve After Coronary Artery Stenting in Patients Role of Relative Coronary Reserve to Assess Potential Mechanisms

BACKGROUND Absolute coronary flow velocity reserve (CVR) after stenting may remain abnormal as a result of several different mechanisms. Relative CVR (rCVR=CVR(target)/CVR(reference)) theoretically normalizes for global microcirculatory disturbances and facilitates interpretation of abnormal CVR. METHODS AND RESULTS To characterize potential mechanisms of poststent physiology, CVR was measured using a Doppler-tipped angioplasty guidewire in 55 patients before and after angioplasty, after stenting, and in an angiographically normal reference vessel. For the group, the percent diameter stenosis decreased from 75+/-13% to 40+/-18% after angioplasty and to 10+/-9% (all P<0.05) after stent placement. After angioplasty, CVR increased from 1.63+/-0.71 to 1.89+/-0.55 (P<0.05) and after stent placement, to 2.48+/-0.75 (P<0.05 versus pre- and postangioplasty). After angioplasty, rCVR increased from 0.64+/-0.26 to 0.75+/-0.23 and after stent placement to 1.00+/-0.34. In 17 patients with CVR(stent) < or = 2.0, increased basal coronary flow, rather than attenuated hyperemia, was responsible in large part for the lower CVR(stent) compared with patients having CVR(stent) >2.0. In 8 patients with CVR(stent) <2.0, a normal rCVR supported global microvascular disease. The subgroup of 9 patients with CVR(stent) <2.0 and abnormal rCVR (16% of the studied patients) may require a pressure-derived fractional flow reserve to differentiate persistent obstruction from diffuse atherosclerotic disease or microvascular stunning. CONCLUSIONS Although a majority of patients after stenting normalize CVR for the individual circulation (ie, normal CVR or normal rCVR), in those with impaired CVR(stent), the analysis of coronary flow dynamics suggests several different physiological mechanisms. Additional assessment may be required to fully characterize the physiological result for such patients to exclude remediable luminal abnormalities.

Periprocedural Doppler coronary blood flow predictors of myocardial perfusion abnormalities and cardiac events after successful coronary interventions

Thirty-four consecutive patients had coronary flow velocity assessed under basal and hyperemic conditions in the proximal and distal coronary artery, followed by rest-stress technetium 99m sestamibi myocardial tomography within 3 months of successful coronary angioplasty. In spite of significant angiographic improvement, 29% of patients had a persistent reversible myocardial perfusion defect associated with a residual abnormality of the proximal-to-distal coronary average peak velocity ratio (p/d APV = 2.2 +/- 1.5 vs 1.1 +/- 0.6; p = 0.02). Patients with an abnormal p/d APV ratio (>1.7) had more numerous angioplasty-zone perfusion defects (4.2 +/- 3.3 vs 0.8 +/- 2.0; p = 0.005). Multivariable analysis of clinical, angiographic, coronary flow, and scintigraphic data demonstrated that the relative risk of cardiac events (n = 11) was greatest in patients with a reversible angioplasty-zone perfusion defect (relative risk, 5.5), poststenotic coronary flow reserve <2.0 (relative risk, 8.3) and p/d APV ratio >1.7 (relative risk, 6.2). Residual basal coronary flow-velocity abnormalities are significant physiologic correlates of stress-induced myocardial perfusion defects and are a prognostic covariable associated with future ischemic cardiac events.

Influence of percutaneous transluminal coronary rotational atherectomy with adjunctive percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty on coronary blood flow

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of sequential percutaneous transluminal coronary rotational atherectomy (PTCRA) and coronary angioplasty on coronary blood flow reserve in patients. Rotational coronary atherectomy restores lumen patency by partially ablating fibrocalcific plaque, releasing microparticulate debris into the distal coronary circulation. Adjunctive balloon angioplasty is usually performed to optimize the angiographic luminal dimensions. Serial alterations in coronary physiology have not been reported. Fourteen lesions in 13 patients were treated by sequential rotational atherectomy followed by adjunctive balloon angioplasty. Poststenotic baseline coronary blood flow velocity was measured by using a Doppler flow wire (FloWire, Cardiometrics, Inc., Mountain View, Calif.), and coronary blood flow was calculated by using the distal vessel cross-sectional area obtained by quantitative coronary angiography. Data were acquired at baseline and during hyperemia (12 to 18 microg of intracoronary adenosine), before and after PTCRA, and again after balloon angioplasty. The mean stenosis decreased from 76 percent +/- 12 percent at baseline to 21 percent +/- 11 percent at the completion of the procedure (p<0.01). The minimal luminal diameter (by quantitative coronary angiography) was 0.7 +/- 0.4 mm at baseline, increased to 1.9 +/- 0.4 mm after rotational atherectomy (p<0.01), and increased to 2.4 +/- 0.5 mm after balloon angioplasty (p<0.01 versus baseline and PTCRA). Distal (poststenotic) coronary blood flow at baseline was 47 +/- 23 ml/min and 57 +/- 38 ml/min during hyperemia. After PTCRA, coronary blood flow increased to 104 +/- 59 ml/min and to 132 +/- 73 ml/min with hyperemia. After adjunctive angioplasty, coronary blood flow was 84 +/- 40 ml/min (p=not significant [NS] vs PTCRA) and increased to 143 +/- 81 ml/min with hyperemia (p=NS vs PTCRA). The poststenotic coronary flow reserve increased from an initial value of 1.1 +/- 0.2 ml/min to 1.3 +/- 0.3 ml/min after PTCRA (p=NS vs baseline) and to 1.6 +/- 0.3 ml/min after adjunctive balloon angioplasty (p<0.01 vs p=NS vs PTCRA). PTCRA significantly increased resting coronary blood flow. Adjunctive balloon angioplasty did not significantly augment resting or hyperemic coronary blood flow more than that achieved by rotational atherectomy alone. These data demonstrate that PTCRA alone improves baseline coronary blood flow with minimal additional physiologic change after adjunctive balloon angioplasty.

Improved left ventriculography with the new 5F helical-tip Halo catheter

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the incidence of ventricular ectopy and catheter movement during left ventriculography with a new 5F halo angiographic catheter that has a unique helical-tip design unlike the design of standard 5F and 6F pigtail catheters. The pigtail catheter is presently preferred for left ventriculography, although its use is associated with a high incidence of ventricular ectopy, which often limits precise interpretation of data. In this study, 155 patients (in 145 unpaired and 10 paired studies) underwent left ventriculography during diagnostic cardiac catheterization. In the unpaired group, the 5F Halo catheter was used in 63 studies and standard 5F and 6F pigtail catheters in 40 and 42 studies, respectively. An additional 10 patients had two consecutive left ventriculograms with 5F Halo and pigtail catheters. Ventriculograms were performed with the same technique in the 30-degree right anterior oblique projection. The left ventricle was divided into a basal zone, midzone, and apical zone. Catheter movement within the ventricle was scored as significant if there was at least one zone change. Ventricular ectopy was quantified by a simultaneous electrocardiographic recording during contrast injection. There were no significant differences in the left ventricular systolic or end-diastolic pressures, left ventricular score, or diagnostic quality of the ventriculograms between the 5F Halo catheter group and the 5F and 6F pigtail catheter groups. Mean ventricular ectopy with the 5F Halo catheter was significantly less (0.9 +/- 1.4 ventricular premature beats [VPBs]) than with the 5F pigtail catheter (2.3 +/- 2.5 VPBs, p < 0.001) or the 6F pigtail catheter (2.9 +/- 2.9 VPBs, p < 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The early diastolic pressure-flow relationship is dependent on pressure sampling sites and timing factors

BackgroundPeak early diastolic flow velocity (E) across the mitral valve has been shown to be directly related to the magnitude of the early diastolic transmitral pressure difference (TPD). Although this relationship has been verified by a number of investigators, the statistical strengths of the reported relationships have varied. This variation may be attributable, at least in part, to the lack of standardization of 1) the site of measurement of left ventricular pressure, and 2) the method for determination of the atrioventricular pressure difference. MethodsTo assess the degree to which the E-TPD relation is affected by early diastolic left ventricular intraventricular pressure gradients, or by the timing of the measurement (ie. instantaneous versus noninstantaneous) of the TPD, we recorded left atrial and two regional (mid and apical) left ventricular pressures with micromanometers, and E by transesophageal Doppler in 16 closed-chest anesthetized dogs. Two noninstantaneous TPDs were measured: pressure at the first crossover of left atrial and left ventricular pressures (X1) minus minimum left ventricular-apical pressure [X1LVPapex]; and X1 minus minimum mid-left ventricular pressure [X1LVPmid]. Two TPDs were also measured at a single point in time (instantaneous): the maximum left atrial to left ventricular-apical early diastolic TPD [MAXapex]; and the maximum left atrial to mid-left ventricular TPD [MAXmid]. ResultsCorrelations with E were as follows: X1 apex, γ=0.805, P<0.001; X1mid, γ= 0.735, P<0.001; MAXapex, r=0.716, P<0.002; MAXmid, r= 0.369, Pis not significant. Conclusions: In this study, a wide range of correlations were observed between E and the four early diastolic TPDs measured as described above. Clearly, transmitral pressure gradients measured in different left ventricular regions and at different points in time are not proportional. Thus, the recorded partem of the transmitral pressure difference is so critically dependent on the intraventricular site and method of timing employed in its measurement, it is doubtful that any physiologically valid, simple relation can be proven.