The Importance of Perfusion Assessment for Determination of Functional Sufficiency of Myocardium
Myocardial vascular bed is represented by a network of arterial and venous vessels as well as microcirculatory vessels including arterioles, precapillaries, capillaries, postcapillaries, venules, and arteriolo-venular anastomoses. Myocardial capillaries are an exchange link providing perfusion of the myocardium with nutrients therefore sufficiency of the capillary circulation ensures the adequacy of metabolic processes in the cells of the heart muscle. There is no consensus among physicians of various specialties on the methodology of assessing coronary blood flow and blood supply to the myocardial tissue. The lack of universality and unity on measuring units, methods, and classification results in contradictions, both in defining approach to treatment strategy and to assessment of treatment effects. Currently, it is necessary to develop a common approach to assessment of coronary perfusion, which would allow to unify the criteria of sufficiency of blood supply to the heart and activity of metabolic processes in the myocardium. It is necessary to determine parameters of studying changes of myocardial vascular bed, closely related to metabolic processes in muscle tissue of the heart.