Coronary flow reserve (CFR) is an integrated marker of diffuse and small vessel coronary artery disease (CAD).Taqueti and colleagues assessed the contributions of CFR and luminal angiographically detected CAD on cardiovascular outcomes. The extent and severity of CAD was determined in 329 patients referred for invasive coronary angiography using the CAD prognostic index, and by CFR assessed by PET. CFR and the CAD prognostic index were independently associated with adverse cardiovascular events. Patients with low CFR exhibited rates of events similar to patients with high angiographic scores, and those with low CFR showed the greatest risk of events (P = 0.001). Diffuse atherosclerosis might, therefore, contribute to heart failure and cardiovascular mortality.
References
Taqueti, V. R. et al. Global coronary flow reserve is associated with adverse cardiovascular events independently of luminal angiographic severity and modifies the effect of early revascularization. Circulation 10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.011939
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CFR is an independent marker of adverse cardiac outcomes in angiographically detected CAD. Nat Rev Cardiol 12, 5 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2014.196
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrcardio.2014.196
