FFR Study (Fractional Flow Reserve)

Fractional Flow Reserve or FFR study is a catheter based diagnostic procedure to accurately measure the blood pressure and flow through a particular part of the coronary artery. It is done at the time of performing the coronary angiogram (cardiac catheterization) to assess whether performing an angioplasty or stenting on intermediate blockages can be beneficial for the patient or not. It involves establishing the ratio between the maximum achievable blood flow in a coronary artery with stenosis and the maximum flow in a normal coronary artery. If the FFR study indicates that the flow of blood is not significantly hampered by blockage of the artery, and requires no revascularization, the patient can then be safely treated with conventional medical therapy instead. An FFR of 1.0 is considered as normal, while an FFR lower than 0.75 is generally associated with further risk of complications like myocardial ischemia (MI) in patients.

FFR study can contribute to significant reduction in healthcare costs for patients and allow physicians to offer better medical care to patients. It allows the physician to do a quantitative evaluation of the functional threats and severity of a coronary artery stenosis and provides a straightforward technique for evaluating the physiological significance of the condition. Stenosis that do not pose a threat to the patient’s life and stenting would not make a big difference in improving the patient’s quality of life may even be ignored by the physician in such a case and alternates like conventional medical therapy applied for better results.