Thin-cap fibroatheroma and large calcification at the proximal stent edge correlate with a high proportion of uncovered stent struts in the chronic phase.

Objective: A high proportion of uncovered stent struts is associated with late stent thrombosis after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation, which frequently results in myocardial infarction or death. However, the predictors of uncovered stent struts remain unknown. Here, using optical coherence tomography (OCT), we studied the baseline tissue characteristics of the target coronary segment and evaluated their influence on the neointimal coverage of the strut in the chronic phase.

Changes in the reference lumen size of target lesions before and after coronary stent implantation: Evaluation with frequency domain optical coherence tomography.

Objective: In optical coherence tomography (OCT)-guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), stent size is usually determined according to the pre-PCI lumen size of either the distal or proximal reference site. However, the effect of the OCT imaging catheter crossing the target lesion on the reference lumen measurements has not been studied. We evaluated changes in the reference lumen size before and after PCI using frequency domain OCT.

Primary cardiac lymphoma: echocardiography and F-18-fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in selection of a biopsy site.

A 63-year-old man was referred to our hospital because of a cardiac tumor. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed a rough, mobile tumor in the dilated right atrium, and transesophageal echocardiography showed that the tumor consisted of small, botryoidal masses. Catheter-based biopsy carried a high risk of embolism.