Philips lauds benefits of iFR in FFR, iFR comparative study
Royal Philips (NYSE:PHG) released data from 2 clinical trials comparing patient outcomes using both instant wave-free radio and fractional flow reserve in diagnosing and treating heart disease, touting similar outcomes between the 2 methodologies.
Data from the 2 new studies presented at ACC 2017 reported similar rates of major adverse cardiac events in patients with intermediate-severity lesions 1 year after percutaneous coronary interventions, whether they were guided by fractional flow reserve tech or adenosine-free instantaneous wave-free ratio index.
The 1st Define-Flair study reported a 6.8% rate of all-cause death, nonfatal MI or unplanned revascularization in iFR patients and 7.8% rate in FFR patients, while the 2nd iFR-Swedeheart study reported rates of 6.7% and 6.1% for iFR and FFR, respectively, according to Medscape.
Philips touted iFR-guided strategies as “more cost effective and faster” with reduced patient discomfort and consistent patient outcomes.
“Findings from these two major clinical outcome studies have the potential to significantly improve the use of coronary physiological assessment. One of the barriers to iFR adoption has been the lack of outcome data, however now we have evidence that an iFR-guided treatment strategy is as reliable as an FFR-guided strategy with regard to future cardiovascular events. Additionally, I believe iFR will reduce patient discomfort. Together the results of these studies demonstrate large simple trials in clinical practice can be done, and should remove any barriers to the use of coronary physiology in interventional procedures,” Dr. Manesh Patel of the Duke Heart Center at Duke University School of Medicine said in a press release.