Study Population
In this single-center, retrospective, observational study, consecutive patients with ACS who were admitted to the Aichi Medical University (Nagakute, Japan) from September 2017 to July 2019 and underwent both OCT and IVUS were included. Patients with ACS included those who suffered ST-elevation myocardial infarction, non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction, and unstable angina [18]. Patients whose culprit lesion was an in-stent lesion or graft-vessel lesion and those whose OCT or IVUS image quality was poor were excluded. This study was conducted in accordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki established by the World Medical Association. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Aichi Medical University (Nagakute, Japan), and all patients provided written informed consent.
OCT Examination and Imaging Analysis
The plaque morphology of the culprit lesions, which were determined based on electrocardiography, echocardiography, and coronary angiography findings, were evaluated using OCT after manual aspiration thrombectomy. Intracoronary images of the culprit lesions were acquired using a frequency-domain OCT system (ILUMIEN OPTIS™, Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA, USA or LUNAWAVE®, Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). The technique of OCT image acquisition has been described elsewhere [19–21]. Briefly, OCT catheters (Dragonfly™, Abbott Vascular, Santa Clara, CA, USA or FastView®, Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan) were advanced distally to the culprit lesion over a 0.014-inch guidewire. The OCT catheter pullbacks were performed during injection of 100% contrast medium from the guiding catheter, acquiring images at a speed of 36 mm/s with the Dragonfly™ catheter and 40 mm/s with the FastView® catheter. The OCT images were analyzed using a dedicated offline review system by two experienced investigators. The plaque morphologies of culprit lesions were classified as PE, PR, calcified nodule, and others on the basis of previously established criteria [2, 5]. PE was defined based on the presence of the attached thrombus overlying an intact and visualized plaque, luminal surface irregularity at the culprit lesion in the absence of thrombus, or attenuation of the underlying plaque by thrombus without superficial lipid or calcification immediately proximal or distal to the site of thrombus. PR was defined according to the presence of fibrous cap discontinuity with communication between the lumen and inner core of the plaque or cavity formation within the plaque. A calcified nodule was identified as a fibrous cap disruption detected over a calcified plaque characterized by protruding calcification, superficial calcium, or the presence of substantive calcium proximal and/or distal to the lesion. Patients who exhibited PE and those who did not were categorized into the PE group and PR group, respectively.
IVUS Examination and Imaging Analysis
After stenting the culprit lesion, IVUS examination of the culprit vessel was performed. The residual lesion was determined as a 5-mm segment located more than 5 mm proximal or 5 mm distal to the stented segment. IVUS imaging data were acquired with a VISICUBE™ IVUS imaging system using a 60-MHz mechanically rotating IVUS catheter (AltaView™, Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). After the IVUS catheter was advanced distally over a 0.014-inch guidewire, IVUS catheter pullbacks were performed using a motorized pullback device at a speed of 9.0 mm/s. The quantitative measurements of cross-sectional IVUS images were analyzed using manual tracing at 1-mm intervals throughout the lesions. Vessel, lumen, and plaque volumes, calculated using Simpson’s method, were standardized as volume index (volume/analyzed length, mm3/mm). Percent plaque volume was calculated as [(plaque volume/vessel volume) × 100, %] [22]. The lipid and fibrous characteristics of the residual lesions were also evaluated using IB-IVUS. The IB-IVUS images were analyzed using a computerized offline software (VISIATLAS™, Terumo Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). IB values for each tissue characteristic were calculated as the average power of the frequency components of the backscatter signal using a fast Fourier transform, measured in decibels and classified into four color-coded components: blue (lipid), green (fibrous), yellow (dense fibrosis), and red (calcification) [23]. The percentage of each tissue characteristic was automatically calculated as [(plaque volume/vessel volume) × 100, %].
Statistical Analysis
Data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation or as median and interquartile range with differences (95% confidence interval). Categorical variables were expressed as frequencies (%). Continuous variables were compared using the unpaired Student’s t-test, and categorical variables were compared using the chi-squared or Fisher’s exact test, where appropriate. Mann–Whitney U tests were performed for non-parametric data. Statistical significance was assumed at a p value of 0.05. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to assess the optimal cut-off value of percent lipid volume for estimating the plaque morphology of the culprit lesion. The optimal cut-off value was determined using the Youden’s index. Differences in the proportion of PE according to percent lipid volume were analyzed using the Cochrane–Armitage trend test. All statistical analyses were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 22.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA) except for the Cochran–Armitage trend test, which was carried out using R software, version 3.6.1 (R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria; available as a free download from http://www.r-project.org).