Current status of assessment of fractional flow reserve.

oronary angiography presently remains the main method for the diagnosis and instruction of epicardial coronary disease. However, precise characterization of the significance for any given stenosis is limited by the inability to identify intermediate coronary lesions responsible for ischemia. In clinical practice, in addition to the assessment of the anatomical details of vessel narrowing, a more precise assessment of the impediment to coronary blood flow has become extremely important. At present, several physiological parameters have been introduced to improve discrimination in functional coronary lesion severity during cardiac catheterization. Of these parameters, myocardial fractional flow reserve (FFR) has been the most frequently used and is being increasingly applied to assess the functional significance of intermediate lesions. FFR can provide important information, both for decision making in diagnostic angiography and for monitoring and evaluating coronary interventions.