Functional Measurement of Coronary Stenosis

Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is considered nowadays as the gold standard for invasive assessment of physiologic stenosis significance and an indispensable tool for decision making in coronary revascularization. Use of FFR in the catheterization laboratory accurately identifies which lesions should be stented and improves the outcome in most elective clinical and angiographic conditions. Recently, FFR has been upgraded to a class IA classification in multivessel percutaneous coronary intervention in the guidelines on coronary revascularization of the European Society of Cardiology. In this state-of-the-art paper, the basic concept of FFR and its application, characteristics, and use in several subsets of patients are discussed from a practical point of view. (J Am Coll Cardiol 2012;59:1045-57) (C) 2012 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation