ABSTRACT
Traditionally, the “gold standard” for evaluating the in situ, functioning anatomy of coronary arterial tree anatomy is multiple-view monoplane and biplane angiography. These techniques provide the examiner with two-dimensional projection images of a complicated three-dimensional structure. In addition to the problem of detecting and accurately measuring the size of localized narrowing in a coronary artery, there is the problem of accurately measuring the physiological significance of a stenosis. In general terms, this significance could be expressed in terms of absolute myocardial perfusion distal to the stenosis or, better still, in terms of myocardial oxygen consumption distal to the stenosis. The accuracy with which the dynamic spatial reconstructor (DSR) image data can be analyzed to provide an index of myocardial perfusion has been evaluated in anesthetized dogs. The dogs were positioned supine in the DSR; up to four types of microspheres were used, one each for different hemodynamic states known to alter myocardial perfusion.
