Importance of physiologic assessment pre- and post intervention*

Introduction Coronary angiography is the principle tool for the evaluation of coronary stenoses, including those lesions recurring after percutaneous coronary intervention. In clinical terms, however, the use of angiography has significant limitations when assessing lesions of intermediate severity, and becomes even more problematic when evaluating the results following coronary interventions with the inherent and inconsistent luminal disruption. Because of the limitations of lumenography, the physiologic assessment of coronary stenoses, both before and after intervention, has emerged with an increasingly important role.