Coronary physiology in the cardiac catheter laboratory

Dr Christopher Wong, University of Sydney

2018 Health Professional Scholarship

Years funded: 2019-2022

Coronary artery disease is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. Invasive treatment of coronary artery disease with percutaneous coronary intervention can improve patients' quality of life, but is associated with a degree of risk. Selecting the right patient for invasive treatment based on coronary physiology while minimizing risks of the procedure itself is paramount to further advancement in this field.

The aims of this project are to

1. validate a novel and less invasive way of measuring the physiological significance of a coronary artery lesion.
2. investigate the feasibility of using a computer simulated "virtual stenting" technique to predict changes in coronary physiology after stenting in complex serial lesions.
3. determine the relationship between coronary flow physiology and shear stress in diseased coronary arteries