Serial changes of coronary flow reserve over one year after transcatheter aortic valve implantation in patients with severe aortic stenosis.

Background: Impaired coronary flow reserve (CFR) portends a poor prognosis in patients with aortic stenosis. The present study aims to investigate how CFR changes over one year after transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) in patients with severe aortic stenosis, and to explore factors related to the changes.

Methods: Consecutive patients undergoing TAVI were registered.

Effect of Atherectomy on Lesion Preparation in Heavily Calcified Coronary Artery Disease.

Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of heavily calcified lesions remains challenging. This study examined whether calcified lesion preparation is better with an ablation-based than balloon-based technique. Results of lesion preparations with and without atherectomy devices were compared in 121 patients undergoing optical coherence tomography (OCT)-guided PCI of heavily calcified lesions.

Prevalence of myocardial perfusion scintigraphy derived ischemia in coronary lesions with discordant fractional flow reserve and non-hyperemic pressure ratios.

Background: Whether a coronary lesion with discordant fractional flow reserve (FFR) and non-hyperemic pressure ratios (NHPRs) causes myocardial ischemia remains unclear. This study investigates the prevalence of myocardial ischemia as assessed by myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) in coronary lesions with discordant FFR and instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR), and, additionally, other NHPRs: resting full-cycle ratio (RFR), diastolic pressure ratio (dPR), and resting Pd/Pa.

Methods: A total of 484 coronary arteries in 295 patients with stable coronary artery disease that underwent MPS and invasive physiological pressure measurements were categorized into four groups (FFR+/NHPR+, FFR+/NHPR-, FFR-/NHPR+, and FFR-/NHPR-) using the respective cut-off values of FFR ≤ 0.

Usefulness of optical coherence tomography with angiographic coregistration in the guidance of coronary stent implantation.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT)-angiography coregistration during stent implantation may be useful to avoid geographical mismatch and incomplete lesion coverage. Untreated lipid-rich plaque at stent edge is associated with subsequent stent edge restenosis. The present study sought to compare the frequency of untreated lipid-rich plaque at the stent edge between OCT-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with and without OCT-angiography coregistration.

Near-infrared spectroscopy to predict microvascular obstruction after primary percutaneous coronary intervention.

Background: Successful restoration of epicardial coronary artery patency by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) does not always lead to adequate reperfusion at the microvascular level.

Aims: This study sought to investigate the association between lipid-rich coronary plaque identified by near-infrared spectroscopy combined with intravascular ultrasound (NIRS-IVUS) and microvascular obstruction (MVO) detected by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) after PPCI for STEMI.

Methods: We investigated 120 patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI.

Optical coherence tomography detection of vulnerable plaques at high risk of developing acute coronary syndrome.

Aims: The ability of optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect plaques at high risk of developing acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between non-culprit plaques characterized as both lipid-rich plaque (LRP) and thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) by OCT and the risk of subsequent ACS events at the lesion level.

Methods And Results: In 1378 patients who underwent OCT, 3533 non-culprit plaques were analysed for the presence of LRP (maximum lipid arc > 180°) and TCFA (minimum fibrous cap thickness < 65 μm).

Impact of Optical Coherence Tomography Imaging on Decision-Making During Percutaneous Coronary Intervention in Patients Presented With Acute Coronary Syndromes.

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides valuable information to guide percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) regarding lesion preparation, stent sizing, and optimization. The aim of the present study was to compare lumen expansion of stent-treated lesions immediately after the procedure for ACS between OCT-guided PCI and angiography-guided PCI.

Methods and results: This study investigated stent-treated lesions immediately after PCI for ACS by using quantitative coronary angiography in 390 patients; 260 patients with OCT-guided PCI and 130 patients with angiography-guided PCI.

Prevalence, Features, and Prognosis of Artery-to-Artery Embolic ST-Segment-Elevation Myocardial Infarction: An Optical Coherence Tomography Study.

Background The major underlying mechanisms contributing to acute coronary syndrome are plaque rupture, plaque erosion, and calcified nodule. Artery-to-artery embolic myocardial infarction (AAEMI) was defined as ST-segment-elevation myocardial infarction caused by migrating thrombus formed at the proximal ruptured plaque. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and clinical features of AAEMI by using optical coherence tomography.

NIRS-IVUS for Differentiating Coronary Plaque Rupture, Erosion, and Calcified Nodule in Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Objectives: This study sought to investigate the ability of combined near-infrared spectroscopy and intravascular ultrasound (NIRS-IVUS) to differentiate plaque rupture (PR), plaque erosion (PE), or calcified nodule (CN) in acute myocardial infarction (AMI).

Background: Most acute coronary syndromes occur from coronary thrombosis based on PR, PE, or CN. In vivo differentiation among PR, PE, and CN is a major challenge for intravascular imaging.

Comparison of Optical Flow Ratio and Fractional Flow Ratio in Stent-Treated Arteries Immediately After Percutaneous Coronary Intervention.

Background: Optical flow ratio (OFR) is a recently developed method for functional assessment of coronary artery disease based on computational fluid dynamics of vascular anatomical data from intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT). The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between OFR and fractional flow reserve (FFR) in stent-treated arteries immediately after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI).

Methods and results: The OFR and FFR were measured in 103 coronary arteries immediately after successful PCI with a stent.

Very late-phase vascular response after everolimus-eluting stent implantation assessed by optical coherence tomography.

Long-term safety of second generation drug-eluting stents (DES) has not yet been evaluated. We sought to evaluate the very late phase (> 3 years) vascular response after second generation everolimus-eluting stent (EES) as compared with first generation sirolimus-eluting stent (SES) by using optical coherence tomography (OCT). We examined the vascular response in 39 patients with a total of 55 DESs [31 EESs (mean 54 months after stenting) and 24 first generation SES (mean 66 months after stenting)] by OCT.

Optical Coherence Tomography Comparison of Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Among Plaque Rupture, Erosion, and Calcified Nodule in Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is caused by coronary plaque rupture (PR), plaque erosion (PE), or calcified nodule (CN). We used optical coherence tomography (OCT) to compare stent expansion immediately after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in patients with AMI caused by PR, PE, or CN.

Methods and results: In all, 288 AMI patients were assessed by OCT before and immediately after PCI, performed with OCT guidance according to OPINION criteria for stent sizing and optimization.

Extent of the difference between microcatheter and pressure wire-derived fractional flow reserve and its relation to optical coherence tomography-derived parameters.

Background: Although previous studies demonstrated that microcatheter-derived fractional flow reserve (mc-FFR) tends to overestimate lesion severity compared to pressure wire-derived FFR (pw-FFR), the clinical utility of mc-FFR remains obscure. The extent of differences between the two FFR systems and its relation to a lesion-specific parameter remain unknown. In this study, we sought to compare mc-FFR with pw-FFR and determine the lower and upper mc-FFR cut-offs predicting ischemic and non-ischemic stenosis, using an and a FFR threshold of 0.

The inter-study reproducibility of instantaneous wave-free ratio and angiography coregistration.

Background: Coregistration system of instantaneous wave-free ratio (iFR) pullback and angiography has been developed to enhance benefits of physiology oriented percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), but its reproducibility has not yet been fully assessed.

Methods And Results: In 51 coronary arteries from 39 patients with stable coronary artery disease, iFR angio-coregistrations were repeated twice. The mean iFR values were comparable between the first and second studies (0.

Intracoronary pressure increase due to contrast injection for optical coherence tomography imaging.

Background: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) requires intracoronary injection of contrast media to remove blood from the field of view during image acquisition. Contrast injection may cause a temporal increase in intracoronary pressure. The aim of this study was to compare the intracoronary pressure during contrast injection between OCT and coronary angiography.