Determination of the angiographic appearance of coronary collateral vessels: The importance of supplying and recipient arteries

The appearance of coronary collateral vessels at coronary angiography generally is believed to provide additional information regarding coronary flow and myocardial oxygen supply beyond that obtained from angiographic assessment of the large coronary arteries. To evaluate the adequacy of this assumption, to determine the relation between the angiographic appearance of coronary arteries and of coronary collateral vessels, and to gain additional insight into the mechanisms governing collateral flow in man, the coronary arteriograms of 121 patients in whom at least 1 coronary artery manifested ≥75% stenosis (193 arteries demonstrated ≥90% stenosis, and 94 of these were totally occluded) were examined. Collateral vessels were graded absent, “poor,” or “good” based on the size and intensity of filling. Stenosis of the recipient artery significantly affected the angiographic appearance of collaterals vessels. No artery with