PERCUTANEOUS CORONARY INTERVENTIONS: INTRAVASCULAR IMAGING AND ASSESSMENT OF INTRACORONARY HAEMODYNAMICS

Conventional coronary angiography does not provide thorough information about the structure of atherosclerotic lesions and severity of vascular stenosis. Since their introduction in past decades, optical coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound have demonstrated high diagnostic yield in patients with coronary heart disease, translated into improved clinical outcomes. The fractional flow reserve and instantaneous wave-free ratio have emerged as reliable criteria for assessment of hemodynamically significant lesions, and allowed a more tailored approach to myocardial revascularization. In the current paper, we aimed to review the main aspects of clinical utilization of invasive studies complementing coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention.