<p class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029"><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">Fractional flow reserve (FFR) enjoyed <a name="_GoBack"></a>a surge in popularity after key trial findings in 2008, a study found.</span></p> <p class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029"><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">In an analysis of the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, FFR was used in 21,365 procedures in 2012, up 18-fold from the 1,173 done in 2008 when the FAME trial first showed </span><a href="https://owa.medstar.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=hLpkxlYCKEqz4bSiISaA2lTEx1IWONNIZQ8wvCBnBR-UIrE_20jXje8x_3TFpnzHmo9JNB5pEuU.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.medpagetoday.com%2fMeetingCoverage%2fTCT%2f11314" target="_blank"><span class="Hyperlink__Char"><span class="Hyperlink__Char">better outcomes</span></span></a><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char"> linked to FFR-guided coronary interventions.</span></p> <p class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029"><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">Similarly, FFR guidance for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) </span><a href="https://owa.medstar.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=hLpkxlYCKEqz4bSiISaA2lTEx1IWONNIZQ8wvCBnBR-UIrE_20jXje8x_3TFpnzHmo9JNB5pEuU.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fcontent.onlinejacc.org%2farticle.aspx%3farticleID%3d2491136" target="_blank"><span class="Hyperlink__Char"><span class="Hyperlink__Char">rose 16-fold </span></span></a><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">from 622 in 2008 to 9,945 in 2012, even as total PCI procedures dropped 28.2% over the same period, </span><a href="https://owa.medstar.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=hLpkxlYCKEqz4bSiISaA2lTEx1IWONNIZQ8wvCBnBR-UIrE_20jXje8x_3TFpnzHmo9JNB5pEuU.&URL=https%3a%2f%2fwww.researchgate.net%2fprofile%2fNaga_Pothineni" target="_blank"><span class="Hyperlink__Char"><span class="Hyperlink__Char">Naga V. Pothineni, MD</span></span></a><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">, and colleagues found.</span></p> <p class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029"><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">“This study demonstrates increased adoption of FFR in clinical practice,” they reported in the </span><span class="Emphasis__Char"><span class="Emphasis__Char">Journal of the American College of Cardiology</span></span><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">, citing the influence of FAME.</span></p> <p class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029"><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">One key finding from FAME was that at 1 year, the combined rate of death, myocardial infarction, coronary artery bypass surgery, and repeat PCI was 13.2% in FFR patients, whereas those assessed with angiography had a rate of 18.4% (</span><span class="Emphasis__Char"><span class="Emphasis__Char">P</span></span><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">=0.02).</span></p> <p class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029"><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">In the present study, Pothineni and colleagues found that most of the FFR procedures in 2012 were performed in urban institutions, with 59.2% taking place in urban teaching hospitals and 33.6% in urban nonteaching hospitals.</span></p> <p class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029"><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char">Their analysis did not look specifically at use of </span><a href="https://owa.medstar.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=hLpkxlYCKEqz4bSiISaA2lTEx1IWONNIZQ8wvCBnBR-UIrE_20jXje8x_3TFpnzHmo9JNB5pEuU.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fwww.medpagetoday.com%2fMeetingCoverage%2fTCT%2f54081" target="_blank"><span class="Hyperlink__Char"><span class="Hyperlink__Char">virtual FFR measurement</span></span></a><span class="Normal_0020_0028Web_0029__Char"> via noninvasive FFR CT imaging, which was recently shown to boost cost-effectiveness and quality of life compared with standard diagnostic angiography in PLATFORM trial analyses.</span></p> <p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">Disclosures</span></p> <p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">Pothineni reported no relevant conflicts of interest.</span></p> <p class="Normal"> </p> <p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">Sources</span></p> <p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">Journal of the American College of Cardiology</span></p> <p class="Normal"><a href="https://owa.medstar.net/owa/redir.aspx?C=hLpkxlYCKEqz4bSiISaA2lTEx1IWONNIZQ8wvCBnBR-UIrE_20jXje8x_3TFpnzHmo9JNB5pEuU.&URL=http%3a%2f%2fcontent.onlinejacc.org%2farticle.aspx%3farticleID%3d2491136" target="_blank"><span class="Hyperlink__Char"><span class="Hyperlink__Char">http://content.onlinejacc.org/article.aspx?articleID=2491136</span></span></a></p> <p class="Normal"><span class="Normal__Char">Pothineni NV et al “U.S. trends in inpatient utilization of fractional flow reserve and percutaneous coronary intervention” </span><span class="Emphasis__Char"><span class="Emphasis__Char">J Am Coll Cardiol</span></span><span class="Normal__Char"> 2016; DOI: 10.1016/j.jacc.2015.11.042</span></p>