Coronary microvascular dysfunction: mechanisms and functional assessment.
- P.G. Camici
- Giulia D'Amati
- O. Rimoldi
DOIAbstract
Abstract | Obstructive disease of the epicardial coronary arteries was recognized as the cause of angina pectoris >2 centuries ago, and sudden thrombotic occlusion of an epicardial coronary artery has been established as the cause of acute myocardial infarction for >100 years. In the past 2 decades, dysfunction of the coronary microvasculature emerged as an additional mechanism of myocardial ischaemia that bears important prognostic implications. The coronary microvasculature (vessels <300 μm in diameter) cannot be directly imaged in vivo, but a number of invasive and noninvasive techniques, each with relative advantages and pitfalls, can be used to assess parameters that depend directly on coronary microvascular function. These methods inc...
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