The Year in Cardiology 2013: imaging in ischaemic heart disease

This article focuses on some of the most important studies published in the year 2013 in cardiac imaging related to ischemic heart disease. Many of the studies across the various imaging techniques addressed the prognostic impact of imaging data on outcome in patients with this diseas

Optimal Prognostication of Patients with Coronary Stenoses in the Pre- and Post-PCI setting: Comments on TARGET FFR and DEFINE-FLOW Trials Presented at TCT Connect 2020

The body of evidence for the use of coronary physiology assessments to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has been growing continuously in recent decades. Two studies presented during TCT Connect 2020 added insights into the prognostic value of coronary physiology measurements in pre- and post-PCI settings. The first study, TARGET FFR, assessed whether a post-PCI fractional flow reserve (FFR)-guided incremental optimisation strategy (PIOS) was superior to angiography-guided PCI. The second study, DEFINE-FLOW, assessed the course of stenoses with fractional and coronary flow reserve (FFR+/CFR−) discordance when treated medically. This article summarises the main results from the TARGET FFR and the DEFINE-FLOW trials and puts them into the context of the existing literature

Definitions and Epidemiology of Coronary Functional Abnormalities

Coronary functional abnormalities are frequent causes of angina pectoris, particularly in patients with unobstructed coronary arteries. There is a spectrum of endotypes of functional coronary abnormalities with different mechanisms of pathology including enhanced vasoconstriction (i.e. coronary artery spasm) or impaired vasodilatation, such as impaired coronary flow reserve or increased microvascular resistance. These vasomotor abnormalities can affect various compartments of the coronary circulation such as the epicardial conduit arteries and/or the coronary microcirculation. Unequivocal categorisation and nomenclature of the broad spectrum of disease endotypes is crucial both in clinical practice as well as in clinical trials. This article describes the definitions of coronary functional abnormalities with currently accepted cut-off values, as well as diagnostic methods to identify and distinguish endotypes. The authors also provide a summary of contemporary data on the prevalence of the different endotypes of coronary functional abnormalities and their coexistence

Molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of inflamed myocardium using ferucarbotran in patients with acute myocardial infarction

Introduction: Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticle (SPIO)-based molecular imaging agents targeting macrophages have been developed and successfully applied in animal models of myocardial infarction