Diagnostic accuracy of optical coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound for the detection and characterization of atherosclerotic plaque composition in ex-vivo coronary specimens: a comparison with histology.

Background: Both intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography have been purported to accurately detect and characterize coronary atherosclerotic plaque composition. The aim of our study was to directly compare the reproducibility and diagnostic accuracy of optical coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound for the detection and characterization of coronary plaque composition ex vivo as compared with histology.

Methods And Results: Intravascular ultrasound (20 MHz) and optical coherence tomography imaging was performed in eight heart specimens using motorized pullback.

Intravascular optical coherence tomography: comparison with histopathology in atherosclerotic peripheral artery specimens.

Purpose: Intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a new imaging modality that provides microstructural information on atherosclerotic plaques and has an axial resolution of 10-20 microm. OCT of coronary arteries characterizes different atherosclerotic plaque components by their distinctive signal patterns. Peripheral human arteries were examined ex vivo by means of OCT, and attempts to distinguish among fibrous, lipid-rich, and calcified atherosclerotic plaques were made based on imaging criteria previously established for coronary arteries.