Authors: Alex Pitcher Thomas NautonMorgan Michael Y Henein
Publish Date: 2007/06/19
Volume: 23, Issue: 6, Pages: 803-804
Abstract
Coronary angiography represents a cornerstone of contemporary cardiology practice It is fundamental to the assessment of coronary artery disease and even noncoronary cardiac diseases might require assessment of myocardial blood supply particularly before open heart surgery A number of limitations to this technique remain including the need for hospital admission arterial puncture morbidity currently with an incidence of 18 a small but definite mortality rate and the need for restrictions in patient activities for some time after the procedure 1 Furthermore coronary angiography evaluates only the arterial lumen identifying the location and severity of narrowing but is unable to provide meaningful information about the arterial wall Coronary angiography also suffers from a significant interobserver variability particularly for moderate stenoses and their haemodynamic significance For these lesions intravascular ultrasound IVUS is used to assess the exact nature
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