Senen Kubilay, Yetkin Ertan, Turhan Hasan, Atak Ramazan, Sivri Nasir, Battaloglu Bektas, Tandogan Izzet, Ileri Mehmet, Kosar Feridun, Ozdemir Ramazan, Cehreli Sengul
Department of Cardiology, TYIH, Ankara, Turkey.
Heart Vessels. 2004 Jan;19(1):23-6. doi: 10.1007/s00380-003-0722-z.
The Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI) frame count is a simple clinical tool for assessing quantitative indexes of coronary blood flow. This measurement has been significantly correlated with flow velocity measured with a flow-wire by several investigators during baseline conditions or hyperemia. In this study we aimed to evaluate the coronary flow in patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia by means of the TIMI frame count and to compare the results with those of patients with angiographically normal coronary arteries. The study population consisted of 37 patients with coronary artery ectasia only in the right coronary artery (RCA). The control group consisted of 31 patients with angiographically proven normal coronary arteries. Coronary artery ectasia was defined as nonobstructive lesions of the coronary arteries with a luminal dilatation 1.5-fold or more of the adjacent normal coronary segments. The TIMI frame count was determined for each major coronary artery in each patient according to the methods first described by Gibson et al. The TIMI frame count of RCA in the study group was significantly higher than in that of the control group (51 +/- 17 vs 25 +/- 8, P < 0.0001). The TIMI frame counts of the study group for the left anterior descending and left circumflex coronary artery were also significantly higher than those of the control group (corrected TIMI frame count for LAD = 42 +/- 11 vs 24 +/- 7, P < 0.001; TIMI frame count for LCx = 44 +/- 15 vs 25 +/- 9, P < 0.001). In patients with coronary artery ectasia, the TIMI frame count of the RCA was higher than that of the left anterior descending and left circumflex coronary artery (51 +/- 17 vs 42 +/- 11 and 44 +/- 15, respectively, P < 0.05). We have shown increased TIMI frame counts in patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia and suggest that the pathophysiological mechanism of coronary artery ectasia is not a focal disease. TIMI frame counts can be regarded as an index of the severity of impaired coronary flow in patients with coronary artery ectasia.
心肌梗死溶栓（TIMI）帧数是一种用于评估冠状动脉血流定量指标的简单临床工具。几位研究者在基线状态或充血状态下使用血流导丝测量血流速度时发现，这种测量方法与血流速度显著相关。在本研究中，我们旨在通过TIMI帧数评估孤立性冠状动脉扩张患者的冠状动脉血流，并将结果与冠状动脉造影正常的患者进行比较。研究人群包括37例仅右冠状动脉（RCA）发生冠状动脉扩张的患者。对照组由31例冠状动脉造影证实冠状动脉正常的患者组成。冠状动脉扩张定义为冠状动脉的非阻塞性病变，其管腔扩张为相邻正常冠状动脉节段的1.5倍或更多。根据Gibson等人首次描述的方法，为每位患者的每支主要冠状动脉确定TIMI帧数。研究组RCA的TIMI帧数显著高于对照组（51±17 vs 25±8，P<0.0001）。研究组左前降支和左旋支冠状动脉的TIMI帧数也显著高于对照组（左前降支校正TIMI帧数=42±11 vs 24±7，P<0.001；左旋支TIMI帧数=44±15 vs 25±9，P<0.001）。在冠状动脉扩张患者中，RCA的TIMI帧数高于左前降支和左旋支冠状动脉（分别为51±17 vs 42±11和44±15，P<0.05）。我们发现孤立性冠状动脉扩张患者的TIMI帧数增加，并提示冠状动脉扩张的病理生理机制不是局灶性疾病。TIMI帧数可被视为冠状动脉扩张患者冠状动脉血流受损严重程度的指标。
