Background: Discordant physiology and anatomy may occur when nonsevere angiographic stenosis has positive physiology as well as the opposite situation.
Aim: To underline the reasons behind the discrepancy in physiology and anatomy and to summarize the information that coronary imaging may add to physiology.
Methods: A review of the published literature on physiology and intravascular imaging assessment of intermediate lesions was carried out.
Results: The limitations of angiography, the possibility of an underlying diffuse disease, the presence of a "grey zone" in both techniques, the amount of myocardial mass that subtends the stenosis, and plaque vulnerability may play a role in such discrepancy. Intracoronary imaging has a poor diagnostic accuracy compared to physiology. However, it may add information about plaque vulnerability that might be useful in deciding whether to treat or not a certain lesion.
Conclusions: Coronary revascularization is recommended for patients with ischemia based on physiology. Intracoronary imaging adds information on plaque vulnerability and can help on the decision whether to revascularize or not a lesion.
Keywords: coronary artery disease; coronary blood flow/physiology/microvascular function; fractional flow reserve; imaging angiographic/fluoroscopic; intravascular ultrasound; optical coherence tomography.
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