[Relation between the degree of coronary artery sclerosis and collateral vessel formation (author's transl)]

A numerical index was developed for reproducible and comparative judgement of the degree of coronary sclerosis. This graded index method takes into account the amount of stenosis as well as its distance from the ostium. 152 selective coronary angiograms were evaluated by this method. There was a close correlation between the degree of sclerosis and collaterals; the index of 63 patients with collaterals was 3.5 times that of patients without collaterals. Anastomoses and collaterals showed typical localisations depending on the antomical position of stenoses. For the evaluation of the clinical importance of collaterals, a classification into one, two and three vessel disease is not adequate; the reduction in perfusion cannot be reliably estimated and should be judged by a more detailed index method.