Quantitative evaluation of regional myocardial blood flow by videodensitometric analysis of digital subtraction coronary arteriography in humans

Videodensitometric analysis of digital subtraction coronary arteriography, a new approach for calculating contrast disappearance half-life (T1/2), was assessed in determining regional myocardial blood flow quantitatively. Forty-one patients with coronary artery disease and 12 with angiographically normal coronary arteries underwent digital subtraction coronary arteriography by manual injection of contrast medium into the left main coronary artery. The T1/2 was calculated from a time-density curve generated in the four sectors of the myocardium perfused by the left anterior descending coronary artery. The mean T1/2 value of the four sectors correlated inversely with the great cardiac vein flow measured by the thermodilution method (r = -0.89), and appeared to be a reliable index of myocardial blood flow. The relation of mean T1/2 with percent stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery was curvilinear (r = 0.88) and an abnormally high T1/2 occurred in patients with coronary stenosis greater than 75%. In patients with comparable stenosis of the left anterior descending artery, the apical T1/2 was significantly increased in those with impaired apical wall motion, while it was significantly decreased in those with coronary collateral vessels. These findings suggest that regional myocardial blood flow begins to decrease in vessels with greater than 75% stenosis, and that myocardial contraction and collateral flow are additional factors that modify regional myocardial blood flow. Thus, the contrast disappearance half-life (T1/2) derived by computerized washout analysis of digital subtraction coronary arteriograms proved useful as an index for quantitative evaluation of regional myocardial blood flow.