CORONARY-ARTERY FLOW MONITORING FOLLOWING CORONARY INTERVENTIONS

Coronary guidewires with ultrasound transducer tips are commercially a vailable and are appropriately sized far use in coronary interventions . These guidewires permit monitoring of coronary flow before, during a nd after the interventions. The measured pow signal contains valuable information regarding the quality and the stability of the final resul t. After completion of the procedure, monitoring the trend in average velocity over several minutes can reveal subtle alterations in flow th at may presage abrupt closure. Abnormal or unstable flow patterns also may help predict lesions that might develop recurrences in the weeks and months after successful procedures.