Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Mar 1;5(3):272-281.
doi: 10.1001/jamacardio.2019.5097.

Usefulness of Routine Fractional Flow Reserve for Clinical Management of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Diabetes

Affiliations

Usefulness of Routine Fractional Flow Reserve for Clinical Management of Coronary Artery Disease in Patients With Diabetes

Eric Van Belle et al. JAMA Cardiol. .

Abstract

Importance: Approximately one-third of patients considered for coronary revascularization have diabetes, which is a major determinant of clinical outcomes, often influencing the choice of the revascularization strategy. The usefulness of fractional flow reserve (FFR) to guide treatment in this population is understudied and has been questioned.

Objective: To evaluate the usefulness and rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) of integrating FFR in management decisions for patients with diabetes who undergo coronary angiography.

Design, setting, and participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the PRIME-FFR study derived from the merger of the POST-IT study (Portuguese Study on the Evaluation of FFR-Guided Treatment of Coronary Disease [March 2012-November 2013]) and R3F study (French Study of FFR Integrated Multicenter Registries Implementation of FFR in Routine Practice [October 2008-June 2010]), 2 prospective multicenter registries that shared a common design. A population of all-comers for whom angiography disclosed ambiguous lesions was analyzed for rates, patterns, and outcomes associated with management reclassification, including revascularization deferral, in patients with vs without diabetes. Data analysis was performed from June to August 2018.

Main outcomes and measures: Death from any cause, myocardial infarction, or unplanned revascularization (MACE) at 1 year.

Results: Among 1983 patients (1503 [77%] male; mean [SD] age, 65 [10] years), 701 had diabetes, and FFR was performed for 1.4 lesions per patient (58.2% of lesions in the left anterior descending artery; mean [SD] stenosis, 56% [11%]; mean [SD] FFR, 0.81 [0.01]). Reclassification by FFR was high and similar in patients with and without diabetes (41.2% vs 37.5%, P = .13), but reclassification from medical treatment to revascularization was more frequent in the former (142 of 342 [41.5%] vs 230 of 730 [31.5%], P = .001). There was no statistical difference between the 1-year rates of MACE in reclassified (9.7%) and nonreclassified patients (12.0%) (P = .37). Among patients with diabetes, FFR-based deferral identified patients with a lower risk of MACE at 12 months (25 of 296 [8.4%]) compared with those undergoing revascularization (47 of 257 [13.1%]) (P = .04), and the rate was of the same magnitude of the observed rate among deferred patients without diabetes (7.9%, P = .87). Status of insulin treatment had no association with outcomes. Patients (6.6% of the population) in whom FFR was disregarded had the highest MACE rates regardless of diabetes status.

Conclusions and relevance: Routine integration of FFR for the management of coronary artery disease in patients with diabetes may be associated with a high rate of treatment reclassification. Management strategies guided by FFR, including revascularization deferral, may be useful for patients with diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Van Belle reported receiving personal fees from Abbott (St Jude Medical) and Philips Volcano during the conduct of the study. Dr Baptista reported receiving grants from Abbott during the conduct of the study and receiving personal fees from Abbott, Boston Scientific, Heartflow, and Opsens Medical outside the submitted work. Dr Raposo reported receiving grants, personal fees, and nonfinancial support from Abbott (St Jude Medical) during the conduct of the study. No other disclosures were reported.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Flowchart
FFR indicates fractional flow reserve.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Rate of Fractional Flow Reserve–Based Reclassification of the Management Strategy Among Patients With and Without Diabetes According to the Management Strategy a Priori
CABG indicates coronary artery bypass graft; PCI, percutaneous coronary intervention.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)–Based Decision and Clinical Outcome in the Overall Population of Patients With Diabetes Compared With Patients Without Diabetes
A, One-year outcome of FFR-based reclassification of the treatment strategy was associated with a low rate of major adverse cardiovascular events (all-cause death, myocardial infarction, and revascularization) among patients with diabetes. B, One-year outcome of FFR-based deferral to medical treatment was associated with a low rate of major adverse cardiovascular events among patients with diabetes.

References

    1. Tonino PA, De Bruyne B, Pijls NH, et al. ; FAME Study Investigators . Fractional flow reserve versus angiography for guiding percutaneous coronary intervention. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(3):213-224. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa0807611 - DOI - PubMed
    1. De Bruyne B, Pijls NH, Kalesan B, et al. ; FAME 2 Trial Investigators . Fractional flow reserve-guided PCI versus medical therapy in stable coronary disease [published correction appears in N Engl J Med. 2012;367(18):1768]. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(11):991-1001. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1205361 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zimmermann FM, Ferrara A, Johnson NP, et al. . Deferral vs performance of percutaneous coronary intervention of functionally non-significant coronary stenosis: 15-year follow-up of the DEFER trial. Eur Heart J. 2015;36(45):3182-3188. doi:10.1093/eurheartj/ehv452 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sant’Anna FM, Silva EE, Batista LA, Ventura FM, Barrozo CA, Pijls NH. Influence of routine assessment of fractional flow reserve on decision making during coronary interventions. Am J Cardiol. 2007;99(4):504-508. doi:10.1016/j.amjcard.2006.09.097 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Van Belle E, Rioufol G, Pouillot C, et al. ; Investigators of the Registre Français de la FFR–R3F . Outcome impact of coronary revascularization strategy reclassification with fractional flow reserve at time of diagnostic angiography: insights from a large French multicenter fractional flow reserve registry. Circulation. 2014;129(2):173-185. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.113.006646 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

Substances