Quantification of coronary flow velocity reserve by means of semiautomated analysis of coronary flow Doppler images

Abstract

Coronary flow reserve (CFVR) is conventionally obtained by manual tracings of Doppler profiles, as ratio of control vs stress diastolic peak velocity. This parameter could help in discriminating between normal (N) and microcirculatory pathologic (P) subjects, even the clinical meaning of 1.9<CFVR</=2.5 it's still not clear. Our goal was to develop a technique for automated tracings of Doppler flow velocity profile to reduce subjectivity and to allow the extraction of other parameters, which could be of clinical interest. This technique was applied to 15 N (CFVR>3) and 15 P (CFVR<1.8) subjects, to assess whose of the new parameters could be able to discriminate between these groups. Results indicated that many of the new parameters were able to evidence significant differences between N and P, thus representing new clinical indices useful for the diagnosis.