Validation of a Predictive Model of Coronary Fractional Flow Reserve in Patients With Intermediate Coronary Stenosis

Coronary fraction flow reserve (FFR), the ratio of the mean coronary pressure distal to a coronary stenosis to the mean aortic pressure during maximal coronary blood flow (hyperemia), defines the hemodynamic significance of coronary artery narrowing. Noninvasive assessment of FFR via a combination of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and coronary CT angiography CCTA (the so-called FFRCT) has potential. Coronary computed tomographic angiography is a noninvasive test for diagnosis of anatomic coronary stenosis (i.e., narrowing of a blood vessel). A new analytical model of FFR from the general Bernoulli equation (conservation of energy) (FFRB) is simple and has potential. A collaborator group has recently developed a new analytical model to quantify pressure drop, and hence FFR, based on lesion dimensions (i.e., the cross-section area along the lesion and the length of lesion) and coronary flow, with no empirical parameters. The investigators hypothesize that this new model will allow quantification of FFR (FFRB) in a cohort of human patients with intermediate coronary stenosis. The study will compare FFRB with invasive FFR measurements from invasive coronary angiography (ICAG).