New Delhi, March 14: Patients with blocked coronary artery can now go for ‘Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR)’ test to determine if a bypass surgery or angioplasty is needed or the blockage can be treated safely with medical therapy.
At present, the general practice is that anyone who has a blockage of the coronary artery of over 50 percent is operated upon, according to doctors.
“But with FFR, we can quantify the obstruction and if it is not that significantly obstructed, the blockage can be treated safely with medical therapy,” said Dr Praveen Chandra, heart surgeon, Global Healthcare, Medanta Med City, which has introduced this technology here.
“The technology will guide the doctor to decide whether to conduct a surgery or not. As a result, patient is saved from undergoing unnecessary post operation complications and will help him save the cost,” Chandra said.
Blockages above 70 percent of the coronary artery are always advised for surgery to unclog it while below it is treated with medication. But the percentage of blockage on the borderline which are between 50 and 70 becomes difficult to decide and the FFR technique proves useful in taking a decision.
The FFR is a guidewire-based procedure that can accurately measure blood pressure and flow through a specific part of the coronary artery. The measurement has been useful in assessing whether or not to perform angioplasty or stenting.
—-PTI