[en] Acute Coronary Syndrome/diagnosis/physiopathology ; Adenosine/diagnostic use ; Aorta/physiology ; Blood Pressure/physiology ; Cardiac Catheterization/instrumentation/methods ; Cohort Studies ; Coronary Circulation/physiology ; Coronary Stenosis/diagnosis/physiopathology ; Coronary Vessels/physiology ; Female ; Humans ; Hyperemia/diagnosis/physiopathology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Predictive Value of Tests ; ROC Curve ; Retrospective Studies ; Severity of Illness Index ; Vasodilator Agents/diagnostic use
[en] OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between resting distal coronary pressure to aortic pressure ratio (Pd/Pa) and fractional flow reserve (FFR) obtained during maximal hyperemia. BACKGROUND: FFR is an invasive index of the functional severity of a coronary artery stenosis determined from coronary pressure measurements. It is generally believed that there is little correlation between resting Pd/Pa and FFR obtained during maximal hyperemia. We have therefore studied this relationship in a large cohort of patients who had undergone pressure- wire assessments. METHODS: 528 consecutive pressure-wire studies performed in 483 patients over a 2-year period were retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: A linear correlation between resting Pd/Pa and FFR post-pharmacological hyperemia was observed (rho = 0.74; p < 0.0001). When a FFR of < or = 0.75 (or < or = 0.80 as per FAME) was defined as positive, a resting Pd/Pa of < or = 0.85 (< or = 0.87) had a positive predictive value (PPV) of 95% (94.6%), while a resting Pd/Pa of > or = 0.93 (> or = 0.96) had a negative predictive value (NPV) of 95.7% (93%). CONCLUSIONS: We demonstrate a strong correlation between resting Pd/Pa and FFR. Resting values of Pd/Pa can be used to predict a positive FFR result with relatively high PPV and NPV. This may potentially obviate the need for adenosine infusion in a proportion of pressure-wire studies.