Plaque blush, branch location, and calcification are angiographic predictors of progression of mild to moderate coronary stenoses.

Background: Angiographic predictors of plaque progression are weak and few: length, irregular surface, turbulence, low shear, and (in some studies) eccentricity and calcification. Having noted plaques that briefly retained dye after angiography, we interpreted these as plaques with a fissured surface or neovascularization and hypothesized that progression would be predicted by "plaque blush."

Methods: Plaques (<50% diameter stenosis) in 68 pairs of angiograms, 5.