The effect of balloon dilatation on post-stenotic myocardial perfusion before and after stimulation of coronary flow reserve: evaluation by the densitometric parameter 'mean rise time'.

From densitometric evaluation of digital subtraction cineangiocardiograms the parameter 'Mean Rise Time' (MRT), defined as the time from the onset of local myocardial contrast medium opacification to the point of maximal opacification can be derived; this parameter revealed a close correlation with the results on myocardial perfusion obtained by Thallium-201 scintigraphy. A prolonged 'Mean Rise Time' was indicative of an impairment of myocardial perfusion. We have developed a heart-phase gated real-time digitization procedure and computer-supported method for the densitometric estimation of the MRT to obtain information about the effect of coronary balloon dilatation on myocardial perfusion…