A multiuser networked system for the large scale study of coronary artery restenosis using quantitative and qualitative coronary angiography

A multi-user system capable of assessing the changes induced from interventional procedures such as coronary angioplasty (PTCA) is assembled using quantitative coronary angiography coupled with the visual assessment of twenty morphological descriptors as input to a relational database, for a large epidemiology study or for use on a routine basis in a high volume clinical environment. Pre- and post-PTCA studies along with six-month follow-up studies from an initial 600 patients have been processed by this system in the initial three months of use. With the creation of the multi-user digital imaging system, quantitative coronary angiography, coupled with a library of defined qualitative lesion descriptors, can be performed rapidly on a large number of patients. Carefully performed analyses of existing patient databases and the acquisition of lesion morphology data coupled with quantitative coronary angiography will provide useful information in determining the efficacy of interventional and pharmacologic procedures in coronary artery disease. This system is suited to define detailed lesion descriptors that impact on either the progression or regression of coronary artery disease over time