Discussion
NSTEMI, stenosis
EVENTS, STENOSIS
In the present study, we compared QFR-guided versus angiography-based PCI on non-culprit lesions over a 12-month follow-up period. The main difference between these groups was the method based on which further clinical decisions were made regarding whether staged PCI in non-culprit arteries was necessary. Otherwise, treatment was identical in both groups. The results showed that patients whose non-culprit arteries were judged according to the QFR values (interventional treatment performed in non-culprit lesions with a QFR ≤ 0.8) had significantly better outcomes and six times less non-culprit lesion revascularization during the follow-up period. Additionally, in the one-year period, the QFR-guided group had twice as many rehospitalizations, and their physical limitations were better (Table Most patients with STEMI are unstable and more fragile than those with NSTEMI. For this reason, PCI for STEMI patients should be as fast as possible and limited to hemodynamically significant stenosis, especially during the index procedure. Invasive coronary physiology methods, such as iFR and FFR, require additional time and manipulations with a pressure wire. Otherwise, QFR is a noninvasive coronary physiology method that can be performed offline, not only by the interventional cardiologist but also by a specialist who is qualified to work with the software. This fact allows interventional cardiologists to perform treatment procedures on culprit lesions while one team member evaluates QFR on non-culprit stenosis. QFR makes the procedure smoother and more accurate, and our study demonstrates that it is likely to be used in STEMI patients.During the 12-month follow-up period, only five patients in the QFR group were rehospitalized, while twice as many in the Angio group. This shows that this noninvasive coronary physiology method can decrease the rehospitalization rate. A reduced rate of rehospitalizations is one of the main pros of using physiology-guided PCI [Similar studies to the factors of the follow-up period involved only major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) or physiology-guided coronary lesion revascularizations [The mortality rate is one of the essential facts of the following period. FFR demonstrated this factor’s efficiency and showed us that it is possible to reduce mortality rates using coronary physiology evaluation methods [