Systems and methods to obtain a myocardial mass index indicative of an at-risk myocardial region

1. A method for diagnosing a risk of cardiac disease, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining an image showing a vasculature of at least part of a patient's biological tree;

identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel from the image;

identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a main artery most proximal to the side branch vessel from the image;

determining a myocardial region at risk for infarct from side branch occlusion relative to a mass perfused by the most proximal artery, wherein such region is a percentage of the mass perfused by the most proximal artery and quantitatively calculated using the cross-sectional areas of the side branch and the most proximal main artery;

diagnosing a risk of cardiac disease based on a diameter of the side branch vessel and a size of the myocardial region at risk for infarct perfused by the side branch, wherein a relationship between the size of the myocardial region at risk for infarct and the cross-sectional area of the side branch is substantially linear; and

administering a treatment to the patient if a risk of cardiac disease at or above a predefined acceptable risk level is diagnosed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel is performed by coronary angiography and the treatment comprises bifurcation stenting of the side branch.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a main artery most proximal to the side branch vessel comprises identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of an artery selected from the group consisting of a left anterior descending artery, a left circumflex artery, and a right coronary artery.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the side branch vessel is diseased and the diameter of the side branch is calculated using a 7/3 power calculation.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel is performed using a diameter of a mother vessel of the side branch bifurcation and a diameter of a daughter vessel of the side branch bifurcation.

6. A method for diagnosing a risk of cardiac disease, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining an image showing a vasculature of at least part of a patient's biological tree;

identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel from the image;

identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a left main coronary artery from the image;

identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a right coronary artery from the image;

determining a myocardial region at risk for infarct from side branch occlusion relative to a mass perfused by the entire heart, wherein such region is a percentage of the mass perfused by the entire heart and quantitatively calculated using the cross-sectional areas of the side branch, left main coronary artery and a right coronary artery;

diagnosing a risk of cardiac disease based on a diameter of the side branch and a size of the myocardial region at risk for infarct perfused by the side branch, wherein a relationship between the size of the myocardial region at risk for infarct and the cross-sectional area of the side branch is substantially linear; and

administering a treatment to the patient if a risk of cardiac disease at or above a predefined acceptable risk level is diagnosed.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the step of identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel is performed by coronary angiography.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the side branch vessel is diseased.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the step of identifying a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel is performed using a diameter of a mother vessel of the side branch bifurcation and a diameter of a daughter vessel of the side branch bifurcation and a 7/3 power calculation.

10. A system for diagnosing a risk of cardiac disease, the system comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium operably connected to the processor, the storage medium capable of receiving and storing data relative of measurements from a vasculature of a vessel;

wherein the processor is operable to:

produce an image showing a vasculature of at least part of a patient's biological tree, the image to be received and stored in the storage medium;

identify a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel from the image;

identify a luminal cross-sectional area of a main artery most proximal to the side branch vessel from the image;

determine a myocardial region at risk for infarct from side branch occlusion relative to a mass perfused by the most proximal artery, wherein such region is a percentage of the mass perfused by the most proximal artery and quantitatively calculated using the cross-sectional areas of the side branch and the most proximal main artery, wherein a relationship between the size of the myocardial region at risk for infarct and the cross-sectional area of the side branch is substantially linear; and

diagnose a risk of cardiac disease based on a diameter of the side branch and a size of the myocardial region at risk for infarct perfused by the side branch.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the identification of a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel is performed by coronary angiography.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the main artery most proximal to the side branch vessel comprises the left anterior descending artery.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the main artery most proximal to the side branch vessel comprises the left circumflex artery.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the main artery most proximal to the side branch vessel comprises the right coronary artery.

15. The system of claim 10 , wherein the side branch vessel is diseased.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the identification of a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel is performed using a diameter of a mother vessel of the side branch bifurcation and a diameter of a daughter vessel of the side branch bifurcation.

17. A system for diagnosing a risk of cardiac disease, the system comprising:

a processor;

a storage medium operably connected to the processor, the storage medium capable of receiving and storing data relative of measurements from a vasculature of a vessel;

wherein the processor is operable to:

produce an image showing a vasculature of at least part of a patient's biological tree, the image to be received and stored in the storage medium;

identify a lumen area of a side branch vessel from the image;

identify a cross sectional area of a left main coronary artery from the image;

identify a cross sectional area of a right coronary artery from the image;

determine a myocardial region at risk for infarct from side branch occlusion relative to a mass perfused by the entire heart, wherein such region is a percentage of the mass perfused by the entire heart and quantitatively calculated using the cross-sectional areas of the side branch, left main coronary artery, and right coronary artery, wherein a relationship between the size of the myocardial region at risk for infarct and the cross-sectional area of the side branch is substantially linear; and

diagnose a risk of cardiac disease based on a diameter of the side branch and a size of the myocardial region at risk for infarct perfused by the side branch.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the identification of a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel is performed by coronary angiography.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein the side branch vessel is diseased.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the identification of a luminal cross-sectional area of a side branch vessel is performed using a diameter of a mother vessel of the side branch bifurcation and a diameter of a daughter vessel of the side branch bifurcation.