Impact of deep vessel wall injury and vessel stretching on subsequent arterial remodeling after balloon angioplasty: a serial intravascular ultrasound study.

Background: Arterial remodeling has been shown to be responsible for lumen narrowing after nonstent interventions.

Methods: To examine the impact of deep vessel wall injury (DI) after balloon angioplasty on the subsequent vessel remodeling process, we performed serial intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) analysis in 47 native coronary artery lesions that underwent balloon angioplasty. An IVUS study was performed before and after balloon angioplasty and repeated at follow-up. Vessel and lumen area were measured at the narrowest site before intervention. Plaque area was calculated as vessel area minus lumen area. DI was defined as the presence of plaque/vessel wall fracture deep in the medial layer (sonolucent zone by IVUS) after angioplasty.

Results: After angioplasty, DI was present in 18 (38%, DI group) and absent in 29 (62%, non-DI group) of lesions. During follow-up, changes in vessel area in the DI group were significantly larger than in the non-DI group (P =.007). There were no significant differences in changes in plaque area. A trend toward greater late lumen loss was observed in the non-DI group (P =.05). In the DI group, changes in lumen area correlated better with changes in vessel area (r = 0.81, P <.0001) than with changes in plaque area (r = 0.32, P =.20). However, in the non-DI group, changes in lumen area correlated with changes in plaque area (r = -0.55, P =.002), but not with changes in vessel area (r = 0.30, P =.11).

Conclusions: Deep vessel wall injury after balloon angioplasty is associated with the magnitude of the subsequent vessel remodeling process. The differences in the remodeling process may have implications regarding adjunctive therapies to prevent restenosis after balloon angioplasty.