Hardening of arteries (atherosclerosis) not only causes lesions in the blood vessels but also results in the obstruction of blood supply to the heart muscles. During strenuousactivities, narrowed coronary arteries won’t be able to supply enough blood to the myocardium leading to angina (chest pain). Coronary artery disease (CAD) can be fatal as it is a major cause of heart attacks (myocardial infarction). CAD can also lead to disability and decreased quality of life. Managing coronary heart disease has always been a challenge to cardiologists due to the increasing complexity of lesions and location of stenosis. Symptomatic Multivessel coronary artery disease that affects two or more epicardial vessels is a case in point. Optical therapeutic approach for treating multivessel disease (MVD) is still a point of fervent discussion within the medical community.
There are mainly three treatment modalities available for patients with MVD which includes
medical therapy, non-invasive percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI)and coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. Though bypass surgery was a preferred approach over stenting in MVD treatment, the recent advancements in catheterization procedures and technologies have reignited an interest in percutaneous intervention. Drug eluting stenting (DES) has proven successful in overcoming the adverse clinical outcomes of bare metal stenting (BMS) by a greater extent. Moreover, widespread application of fractional flow reserve measurement technique has made it easier for physicians to choose between the non-invasive percutaneous coronary intervention and pharmaceutical treatment for a CAD patient. As per the famous FAME study, it has been proved that FFR guided percutaneous approach can ensure better outcomes in managing the symptomatic multivessel coronary disease. Followed by that, the FAME 2 study results demonstrated PCI along with medical therapy can ensure better outcomes when compared to medical therapy alone.
Innovative advancements in the cath lab set up and interventional environments have been helping physicians to perform both interventional and surgical procedures with great accuracy and precision. For example, Philip’sXper Flex Cardio equipped with multiple functionalities aids physicians in treatment decisions. This hemodynamic cardiac monitoring system supports FFR measurements and provides 16-lead ECG analysis, culprit Artery detection and patented ST maps. Philip’s Xper Flex Cardio system and similar physiomonitoring systems can surely enhance the efficiency on multiple levels.
