Dr.S.Venkatesan MD


Home | Aim of this blog | Archives


Can coronary collaterals provide more blood flow than a CABG ?

March 29, 2009 3:53 pm

Coronary collateral circulation is the most poorly understood, and often neglected concept among the cardiology community.There is a general perception , in obstructive CAD ,  coronary collaterals are an inferior modality of  back up blood supply than artificial collateral (Also called CABG ) ! One of the reasons,  it is   been ridiculed by many  mainstream cardiologists is   because  , it comes by nature , and also free of cost !

The often quoted statement* ,collateral blood flow can not sustain blood flow during exercise ,  is not based on solid scientific data. In the real world , there are thousands of patients actively pursuing life with chronic total occlusion and good collaterals.

It is surprising , there is no  physiologically valid ,  controlled study available to compare CABG with natural collaterals

*When repeatedly told , a  statement becomes a fact !

It can be assumed (Unscientifically ofcourse ! )   the  remarkable  success  of medical therapy  in COURAGE  and the OAT * study  can be attributable to the naturally occurring coronary collateral circulation.

* Summary of COURAGE & OAT : A   block  in the coronary artery  need not be opened  to prolong human survival !

You draw your own conclusions from the  following case study

A 40 year old women , with stable angina and good physical activity

Her angiogram shows.

coronary-collateral-2

RCA injection

coronary-collateral

Rate this:

Posted by dr s venkatesan

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Leave a Reply



Mobile Site | Full Site


Get a free blog at WordPress.com Theme: WordPress Mobile Edition by Alex King.