Coronary Flow Stress Echocardiography

Independent association of coronary flow reserve with left ventricular relaxation and filling pressure in arterial hypertension

Galderisi M, de Simone G, D'Errico A, Sidiropulos M, Viceconti R, Chinali M, Mondillo S, de Divitiis O.

Comment:

Coronary flow reserve in coronary artery disease is feasible, useful, and prognostically validated tool to be considered with standard wall motion analysis; It is currently recommended as the state-of-the art method with vasodilatory stress echocardiography when adequate technology and expertise are available. Its non-invasive, radiation-free nature also make it ideally suited for ethically immaculate, radiation-free research-oriented studies, especially when each subject or patient acts as his/her own control, allowing establishment of acute or chronic changes in coronary flow reserve, induced, for instance, by acute food or beverage intake (such as alcohol or chocolate) or ingestion of medication in chronic therapeutic interventions, for instance, antihypertensive drugs.

Reference: Am J Hypertens 2008;21:1040-6

Prognostic value of left-ventricular and peripheral vascular performance in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy

Bombardini T, Nevola E, Giorgetti A, Landi P, Picano E, Neglia

Comment:

Coronary blood flow increases three- to fourhold in normal subjects, but the reduction in diastolic time (much greater than shortening in systolic time) limits mostly the perfusion in the subendocardial layer – whose perfusion is mainly diastolic, whereas the perfusion in the subepicardial layer is also systolic.

Reference: J Nucl Cardiol 2008;15:353-62