Combination balloon-ultrasound imaging catheter for percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Validation of imaging, analysis of recoil, and identification of plaque fracture.

Background: We investigated the hypothesis that an ultrasound transducer positioned within an angioplasty balloon could be used to perform quantitative assessment of arterial dimensions before and after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA) and to identify certain mechanical alterations consequent to PTA, including vascular wall recoil and the initiation of plaque fractures.

Methods And Results: A combination balloon-ultrasound imaging catheter (BUIC) that houses a 20-MHz ultrasound transducer within and halfway between the proximal and distal ends of an angioplasty balloon was used to perform PTA in 10 patients with peripheral vascular disease. Each PTA site was also evaluated before and after PTA by standard (nonballoon) intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) technique. In eight patients in whom satisfactory images were recorded with the BUIC before PTA, luminal cross-sectional area (XSA) of stenotic sites (0.10 +/- 0.01 cm2) did not differ significantly from measurements of XSA by IVUS (0.09 +/- 0.01 cm2, p = NS). Likewise, minimum luminal diameter (Dmin) measured by BUIC (0.34 +/- 0.02 cm) was similar to that measured by IVUS (0.33 +/- 0.01 cm, p = NS). In nine patients in whom satisfactory images were recorded with the BUIC after PTA, XSA measured by BUIC (0.29 +/- 0.03 cm2) did not differ significantly from XSA measured by IVUS (0.30 +/- 0.03 cm2, p = NS). Dmin measured by BUIC after PTA (0.57 +/- 0.02 cm) was also similar to Dmin measured by IVUS (0.57 +/- 0.03 cm, p = NS). After PTA, XSA and Dmin measured immediately after deflation were significantly less than balloon XSA and diameter at full inflation, indicating significant elastic recoil of the dilated site. For the nine patients in whom post-PTA images were satisfactory for quantitative analysis, including four patients in whom recoil was 39%, 46%, 50%, and 61%, percent recoil measured 28.6 +/- 7.2%. Finally, plaque fractures were identified on-line in six of 10 patients (60%); in each case, initiation of plaque fracture was observed at inflation pressures of 2 atm or less.

Conclusions: The results of this preliminary human investigation indicate that an ultrasound transducer positioned within an angioplasty balloon can be used to perform quantitative and qualitative analyses of lumen-plaque-wall alterations immediately preceding, during, and immediately after PTA in patients with peripheral vascular disease.