Coronary Flow Velocity Reserve by Echocardiography: Beyond Atherosclerotic Disease.
Giovanni CivieriMontisci RobertaPeter L M KerkhofSabino IlicetoFrancesco TonaPublished in: Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) (2023)
Coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) is defined as the ratio between coronary flow velocity during maximal hyperemia and coronary flow at rest. Gold-standard techniques to measure CFVR are either invasive or require radiation and are therefore inappropriate for large-scale adoption. More than 30 years ago, echocardiography was demonstrated to be a reliable tool to assess CFVR, and its field of application rapidly expanded. Although initially validated to assess the hemodynamic relevance of a coronary stenosis, CFVR by echocardiography was later used to investigate coronary microcirculation. Microvascular dysfunction was detected in many different conditions, ranging from organ transplantation to inflammatory disorders and from metabolic diseases to cardiomyopathies. Moreover, it has been proven that CFVR by echocardiography not only detects coronary microvascular involvement but is also an effective prognostic factor that allows a precise risk stratification of the patients. In this review, we will summarize the many applications of CFVR by echocardiography, focusing on the coronary involvement of systemic diseases.
Keyphrases
- coronary artery disease
- coronary artery
- left ventricular
- prognostic factors
- computed tomography
- pulmonary hypertension
- aortic stenosis
- end stage renal disease
- oxidative stress
- stem cells
- chronic kidney disease
- heart failure
- blood flow
- body composition
- radiation induced
- aortic valve
- resistance training
- drug induced
- patient reported