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Background: Black patients presenting to the catheterization laboratory have more risk factors and worse long-term outcomes. This sub-analysis of the Lipid Rich Plaque (LRP) study quantifies the plaque burden and composition of Black vs White patients and associated outcomes., Methods: Patients with a singular, self-reported race presenting for cardiac catheterization were enrolled if near-infrared spectroscopy/intravascular ultrasound (NIRS-IVUS) imaging of non-stented, non-culprit (NC) vessels was performed. Lipidic content was quantified at the 4-mm region with maximum Lipid Core Burden Index (maxLCBI 4mm ). NC major adverse cardiac events (NC-MACE) were defined as: cardiac death, cardiac arrest, non-fatal myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, revascularization, and hospital readmission for angina with >20 % disease progression through 2 years., Results: Among 1346 patients with a singular, self-reported race, 182 were Black. Black vs White patients were more likely to be female, had higher rates of traditional risk factors, and were more likely to present acutely. Both patients and segments were more likely to have maxLCBI 4mm  > 400 (46.7 % vs 30.6 %, p < 0.001, respectively; 15.5 % vs 8.9 %, p < 0.001, respectively). Vessel size and plaque burden were larger for Black vs White patients. At 2 years, maxLCBI 4mm  > 400 and Black race were independently predictive of NC-MACE (hazard ratio [HR] maxLCBI 4mm  > 400: 2.37 [95 % confidence interval (CI) 1.50-3.76, p < 0.001], Black race: 2.8 [95 % CI 1.27-3.42, p = 0.004], p interaction  = 0.137)., Conclusions: Compared to White patients, Black patients had more lipid-rich plaques with greater plaque burden. Both high lipidic burden and Black race were independently predictive of NC-MACE within 2 years., Clinical Trial Registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02033694, NCT02033694., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Carlo Di Mario is the recipient of research grants (through the Department of Clinical & Experimental medicine of the University of Florence) from AMGEN, Behring, Chiesi, Daiichi-Sankyo, Edwards, Medtronic, and Shockwave. Ziad Ali reports grants from NIH/NHLBI, Abbott Vascular and Cardiovascular Systems Inc., personal fees from Amgen, AstraZeneca and Boston Scientific, and equity from Shockwave Medical. Hector Garcia-Garcia reports the following institutional grant support: Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Abbott, Neovasc, Shockwave, Philips, and CorFlow. Gary Mintz reports honoraria from Boston Scientific and Philips. Ron Waksman reports serving on the advisory boards of Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Philips IGT, and Pi-Cardia Ltd.; being a consultant for Abbott Vascular, Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Cordis, Medtronic, Philips IGT, Pi-Cardia Ltd., Swiss Interventional Systems/SIS Medical AG, Transmural Systems Inc., and Venous MedTech; receiving institutional grant support from Amgen, Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Chiesi, Medtronic, and Philips IGT; and being an investor in MedAlliance and Transmural Systems Inc. All other authors report no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Intravascular ultrasound and near-infrared spectroscopy can identify vulnerable coronary atherosclerotic plaques. In this LRP (Lipid-Rich Plaque) substudy, we evaluated the association of statins with nonculprit lesion arterial wall lipidic content and subsequent nonculprit major adverse cardiac events. Patients from the LRP study with known statin use were included. We divided the patients into 2 cohorts-"statin therapy" and "statin-naïve"-upon presentation and then described the intravascular ultrasound and near-infrared spectroscopy analysis based on maximum 4-mm lipid core burden index (maxLCBI 4mm ). At 2-year follow-up, the patients' clinical events were assessed based on their statin regimen change upon discharge. Finally, patients were stratified by statin intensity based on discharge regimen. Among the 1,526 patients, 1,120 were on a statin versus 396 who were statin-naive upon presentation. Patients on a statin at baseline had a statistically higher rate of cardiovascular risk factors, patients who were statin-naive were more likely to present with an acute coronary syndrome, and the maxLCBI 4mm did not differ between the 2 groups (315.67 ± 181.36 vs 325.55 ± 192.16; p = 0.359). These findings were consistent in a secondary analysis evaluating statin intensity. Patients who were switched from no statin to a statin had improved outcomes (nonculprit major adverse cardiac events) compared with patients who were on a statin at baseline without change. In conclusion, despite having a higher burden of nonlipid-related cardiac co-morbidities, patients on a statin at baseline had similar maxLCBI 4mm with patients who were statin-naive, regardless of intensity. Initiating a statin at discharge provides the most benefit for events related to nonculprit lesions., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Aims: The left anterior descending (LAD) artery is the most frequently affected site by coronary artery disease. The prospective Lipid Rich Plaque (LRP) study, which enrolled patients undergoing imaging of non-culprits followed over 2 years, reported the successful identification of coronary segments at risk of future events based on near-infrared spectroscopy-intravascular ultrasound (NIRS-IVUS) lipid signals. We aimed to characterize the plaque events involving the LAD vs. non-LAD segments., Methods and Results: LRP enrolled 1563 patients from 2014 to 2016. All adjudicated plaque events defined by the composite of cardiac death, cardiac arrest, non-fatal myocardial infarction, acute coronary syndrome, revascularization by coronary bypass or percutaneous coronary intervention, and rehospitalization for angina with >20% stenosis progression and reported as non-culprit lesion-related major adverse cardiac events (NC-MACE) were classified by NIRS-IVUS maxLCBI4 mm (maximum 4-mm Lipid Core Burden Index) ≤400 or >400 and association with high-risk-plaque characteristics, plaque burden ≥70%, and minimum lumen area (MLA) ≤4 mm2. Fifty-seven events were recorded with more lipid-rich plaques in the LAD vs. left circumflex and right coronary artery; 12.5% vs. 10.4% vs. 11.3%, P = 0.097. Unequivocally, a maxLCBI4 mm >400 in the LAD was more predictive of NC-MACE [hazard ratio (HR) 4.32, 95% confidence interval (CI) (1.93-9.69); P = 0.0004] vs. [HR 2.56, 95% CI (1.06-6.17); P = 0.0354] in non-LAD segments. MLA ≤4 mm2 within the maxLCBI4 mm was significantly higher in the LAD (34.1% vs. 25.9% vs. 13.7%, P < 0.001)., Conclusion: Non-culprit lipid-rich segments in the LAD were more frequently associated with plaque-level events. LAD NIRS-IVUS screening may help identify patients requiring intensive surveillance and medical treatment., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: R.W., C.D.M., H.M.G.-G., and R.T. were Principal Investigator, European Principal Investigator, Responsible Officer Core Laboratory NIRS-IVUS and angiographic analysis, Worldwide Study Coordinator of the Lipid Rich Trial, sponsored by Infraredx-Nipro, Bedford, MA, USA. H.M.G.-G. reports the following institutional grant support: Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Medtronic, Abbott, Neovasc, Shockwave, Phillips, and Corflow. C.D.M. is the recipient of research grants (through the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine of the University of Florence) from AMGEN, Behring, Chiesi, Daiichi Sankyo, Edwards, Medtronic, and Shockwave. Z.A.A. reports grants from NIH/NHLBI, Abbott Vascular, and Cardiovascular Systems Inc.; personal fees from Amgen, Astra Zeneca, and Boston Scientific; and equity from Shockwave Medical. G.S.M. reports honoraria from Boston Scientific and Philips. R.W. reports serving on the advisory boards of Abbott Vascular, Amgen, Boston Scientific, Cardioset, Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Medtronic, Philips, and Pi-Cardia Ltd.; being a consultant for Abbott Vascular, Amgen, Biotronik, Boston Scientific, Cardioset, Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Medtronic, Philips, Pi-Cardia Ltd., and Transmural Systems; receiving grant support from AstraZeneca, Biotronik, Boston Scientific, and Chiesi; serving on the speakers bureaus of AstraZeneca and Chiesi, and being an investor in MedAlliance and Transmural Systems. All other authors declared no conflict of interest., (Published on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. © The Author(s) 2021. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Background: Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute and reversible ventricular motion abnormality without epicardial coronary obstruction. Optical flow ratio (OFR) is an approach to evaluate the coronary stenosis significance based on three-dimensional optical coherence tomography (3D-OCT). The aim of this study is to utilize OCT and an artificial intelligence plaque characterization model to show the prevalence and composition of atherosclerotic disease in coronary vessels of patients with TTS., Methods: This is a retrospective and observational study which enrolled patients with TTS who underwent coronary angiography and OCT examination. OCT images were analyzed for tissue characterization and OFR computation using a novel artificial intelligence algorithm., Results: A total of 37 patients and 49 vessels were studied. All patients were imaged in the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) and about two-thirds were also imaged in the left circumflex coronary artery (LCX). Most patients were women ( n = 35), and apical was the most common takotsubo type. Tissue composition analysis yielded the following overall plaque types: fibrous (67.1%), lipid (15.5%), and calcium (3.77%). The mean OFR for LAD and LCX was 0.97 ± 0.04 and 0.98 ± 0.02, respectively., Conclusion: Utilizing automatic plaque characterization on OCT images by artificial intelligence, we found that TTS patients have coronary artery disease (i.e. presence of lipid, calcified, or fibrous tissue). The advent of artificial intelligence methods may allow for large-scale studies of patients with TTS., (Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Data comparing plaque characteristics and wire-free physiological assessment in the target vessel in patients with stable angina versus acute coronary syndrome are sparse. Therefore, we investigated the difference in plaque distribution between stable angina and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and explored the relationship between target vessel vulnerability by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and wire-free functional assessment with quantitative flow ratio (QFR)., Methods: Patients with stable angina (n = 25) and NSTEMI (n = 24) were in the final prospective study cohort from the DECODE study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02335086). All 5480 OCT frames in the region of interest were analyzed to study plaque morphology in the target vessel. QFR was analyzed from baseline coronary angiography before percutaneous coronary intervention. Vulnerable vessel score (VVS) was calculated from each plaque, and vessel QFR was then compared., Results: Out of all frames, thin-cap fibroatheroma was common with NSTEMI compared to stable angina (10.9 versus 6.3%, P < 0.01), while fibrous plaque was more commonly seen with stable angina compared to NSTEMI (19.7 versus 14.4%, P < 0.01). Calcified plaque was similar in both clinical settings (approximately 6%). Regression analysis showed that segments with normal vessel walls were located significantly farther from the other plaque types. Longitudinal distances for plaque-type in NSTEMI were numerically greater than those for stable angina; however, the mean difference was less than 10 mm. The VVS had a significant inverse linear correlation with QFR (r = -0.34, P = 0.009)., Conclusions: The plaque distribution by OCT between stable angina and NSTEMI was similar. Target vessel vulnerability was greater in patients with lower QFR value., (Copyright © 2020 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Areas covered:In this review, we outline the underlying causes of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) as evaluated by optical coherence tomography (OCT). We report both the definitions of each mechanism and its frequency as reported in the literature to date. Finally, we present an algorithm based on the findings in the review that gives an outlined approach to perform intervention on ACS patients.Expert opinion:Although the most common and most accepted intervention in ACS cases is stent implantation, data suggest a stentless approach in cases of plaque erosion, which generally occurs in younger patients presenting with an acute coronary syndrome that have TIMI flow of 2/3 and either a small or large burden of thrombus and underlying stenosis of less than 50%.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine DNA ligase activity and expression of DNA damage response pathway (DDR) genes in patients with stable angina (SA) and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and determine whether they correlate with plaque morphology., Background: Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) have evidence of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). It is unclear whether this represents excess damage or defective DNA repair activity., Methods: DNA ligase activity and the expression of 22 DDR genes were measured in PBMCs of patients (both SA (n = 47) and NSTEMI (n = 42)) and in age and gender-matched controls (n = 35). Target lesion anatomical assessment was undertaken with frequency domain optical coherent tomography., Results: DNA ligase activity was different across the three groups of patients (control = 119 ± 53, NSTEMI = 115.6 ± 85.1, SA = 81 ± 55.7 units/g of nuclear protein; ANOVA p = 0.023). Pair wise comparison demonstrated that this significance is due to differences between the control and SA patients (p = 0.046). Genes involved in double strand break repair and nucleotide excision repair pathways were differentially expressed in patients with SA and NSTEMI. In SA patients, fibrocalcific plaques were strongly associated with GTSE1, DDB1, MLH3 and ERCC1 expression. By contrast, in NSTEMI patients the strongest association was observed between fibrous plaques and ATM and XPA expression., Conclusion: PBMCs from patients with CAD exhibit differences in DNA ligase activity and expression of DDR genes. Expression levels of certain DDR genes are strongly associated with plaque morphology and may play a role in plaque development and progression. Trial Registration Number URL: www.Clinicaltrials.gov; NCT02335086., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Statin therapy has been shown to result in coronary plaque regression, but the relationship between statin use and stabilization of coronary plaque has not been elucidated. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the effect of statin therapy on fibrous cap thickness (FCT) on optical coherence tomography (OCT).Methods and Results:Nine OCT studies (6 randomized controlled trials and 3 observational studies) were enrolled with a total of 341 patients (390 lesions). Arms of the studies were grouped according to statin type and/or dose. Random effects meta-analysis was used to estimate a pooled mean change in FCT from baseline to follow-up. The overall effect mean FCT change was 67.7 µm (95% CI: 51.4-84.1, I 2 =95.0%, P<0.001). All statin groups had an increase in FCT, but the magnitude of the increase differed according to the statin. Two homogeneous subgroups with I 2 =0 were identified: mean FCT change was 27.8 µm (for subgroup atorvastatin 5 mg and rosuvastatin), and 61.9 µm (for subgroup atorvastatin 20 mg, fluvastatin 30 mg, and pitavastatin 4 mg). On meta-regression modeling, statin therapy alone explained most of the change in FCT., Conclusions: Statin therapy induced a significant increase in FCT as assessed on OCT, independent of coronary risk factors and other medications.