Functional alterations in the coronary circulation as mirrored in the angiogram

The ability of coronary arteriography to disclose the presence of abnormalities in the coronary arteries is undisputed. On the other hand, it is less clear whether the angiographic examination of the coronary circulation permits an assessment of functional abnormalities, which may involve the coronary circulation in toto or regionally. The most commonly practiced grading of angiographically demonstrated coronary artery disease is based on the degree of arterial narrowing and the number of major vessels that are involved. This approach, however, suffers from significant shortcomings, which are mainly related to the limitations in accuracy of measuring such lesions angiographically. Secondary angiographic signs of impaired coronary flow, such as contrast propagations through collateral channels, delayed, stagnant, and reciprocal flow pattern, and the appearance of excessive peripheral myocardial contrast accumulation may gain great importance. In conjunction with the presentation of a number of cases considered to be representative for different situations of chronic and acute myocardial ischemia, the primary and secondary angiographic findings are accounted for in detail and discussed as to the most likely existing pathophysiology. The discussion also includes knowledge based on experiments performed in in vitro or animal models and tries to establish a synthesis between the different angiographic phenomena and the present status of our understanding of the pathophysiology of myocardial injury. It is concluded that such detailed analysis of the angiographic events may yield important information for the most appropriate management of the individual patient.