Should we routinely assess coronary artery Doppler in daily echocardiography practice?

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging
• Diagnostic Techniques

Background:

• Coronary artery disease (CAD) often presents with severe symptoms like myocardial infarction or death.
• Current screening methods lack accuracy, safety, or non-invasive capabilities for widespread use.
• Need for reliable prognostic assessment during routine patient examinations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the literature on non-invasive ultrasound imaging of coronary arteries for prognostic assessment in daily practice.
• To evaluate the utility of coronary artery flow assessment in routine echocardiography.
• To highlight advanced echocardiographic techniques for risk stratification.

Main Methods:

• Review of current scientific literature on non-invasive ultrasound imaging and coronary artery assessment.
• Analysis of stress echocardiography (exercise or pharmacologic) combined with coronary flow velocity reserve (CFVR) measurement.
• Evaluation of routine echocardiography with added coronary artery scanning.

Main Results:

• Coronary artery flow assessment during echocardiography provides incremental prognostic information without radiation.
• Stress echocardiography with CFVR offers advantages over methods relying solely on wall motion abnormalities.
• Routine echocardiography supplemented with coronary artery scanning can identify high-risk CAD patients.

Conclusions:

• Non-invasive ultrasound imaging, particularly with CFVR assessment, is a valuable tool for CAD prognosis.
• This approach enhances risk stratification compared to traditional methods.
• Routine echocardiography can be augmented to detect patients at high risk of future adverse cardiac events.