Quantitative flow ratio for immediate assessment of nonculprit lesions in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction-An iSTEMI substudy

Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2019 Nov 1;94(5):686-692. doi: 10.1002/ccd.28208. Epub 2019 Mar 25.

Abstract

Objectives: We evaluated the diagnostic performance of quantitative flow ratio (QFR) assessment of nonculprit lesions (NCLs) based on acute setting angiograms obtained in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) with QFR, fractional flow reserve (FFR), and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) in the staged setting as reference.

Background: QFR is an angiography-based approach for the functional evaluation of coronary artery lesions.

Methods: This was a post-hoc analysis of the iSTEMI study. NCLs were assessed with iFR in the acute setting and with iFR and FFR at staged (median 13 days) follow-up. Acute and staged QFR values were computed in a core laboratory based on the coronary angiography recordings. Diagnostic cut-off values were ≤0.80 for QFR and FFR, and ≤0.89 for iFR.

Results: Staged iFR and FFR data were available for 146 NCLs in 112 patients in the iSTEMI study. Among these, QFR analysis was feasible in 103 (71%) lesions assessed in the acute setting with a mean QFR value of 0.82 (IQR: 0.73-0.91). Staged QFR, FFR, and iFR were 0.80 (IQR: 0.70-0.90), 0.81 (IQR: 0.71-0.88), and 0.91 (IQR: 0.87-0.96), respectively. Classification agreement of acute and staged QFR was 93% (95%Cl: 87-99). The classification agreement of acute QFR was 84% (95%CI: 76-90) using staged FFR as reference and 74% (95%CI: 65-83) using staged iFR as reference.

Conclusions: Acute QFR showed a very good diagnostic performance with staged QFR as reference, a good diagnostic performance with staged FFR as reference, and a moderate diagnostic performance with staged iFR as reference.

Keywords: FFR; QFR; STEMI; fractional flow reserve; iFR; instantaneous wave-free ratio.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Coronary Angiography*
  • Coronary Artery Disease / diagnostic imaging*
  • Coronary Artery Disease / physiopathology
  • Fractional Flow Reserve, Myocardial*
  • Humans
  • Non-ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction / diagnostic imaging*
  • Non-ST Elevated Myocardial Infarction / physiopathology
  • Predictive Value of Tests
  • Prospective Studies
  • Reproducibility of Results