Evaluation of collateral flow in patients with three vessels diseases and chronic occlusion of the right coronary artery

摘要

Collateral flow has an important protective role in hearts with coronary obstructive disease. However, well-developed collaterals might also influence restenosis of a treated region after revascularization, through flow competition mechanisms. Precise estimation of collateral flow capacity is thus of great utility before coronary surgery and angiography does not allow to detect collateral vessels smaller than 100 μm. The aim of this paper is to provide a biomechanical analysis of per-operative hemodynamic data (pressure and flow rates) in order to assess quantitative evaluation of the collateral flow rate in patients with three vessels disease.