The major factors determining myocardial perfusion and oxygen delivery have been
elucidated over the past several decades, and this knowledge has been incorporated into
the management of patients with ischemic heart disease (IHD). The basic understanding of
the fluid mechanical behavior of coronary stenoses has also been translated to the cardiac
catheterization laboratory where measurements of coronary pressure distal to a stenosis
and coronary flow are routinely obtained. However, the role of perturbations in coronary�…