Search

OBJECTIVE: Combined use of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is a potential method for accurate assessment of plaques characteristics and vulnerability. The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate the feasibility of a fully integrated intracoronary OCT-IVUS imaging technique to visualize plaques in living animals. BACKGROUND: In vivo imaging of plaques by an integrated OCT-IVUS system has not been reported. METHODS: Simultaneous real-time OCT-IVUS imaging is performed using an integrated OCT-IVUS system and a single fully-integrated catheter with a 3.6F outer-diameter same as a commercial IVUS catheter. RESULTS: To verify in vivo imaging capability of this technique, five atherosclerotic-model rabbits and a swine were imaged. Images were obtained in these animals without complications. Linear regression shows a high correlation between rabbit plaque sizes determined from histology and OCT/IVUS estimated plaque sizes (R2=0.955, P

A miniature integrated intravascular optical coherence tomography (OCT) - ultrasound (US) catheter for real-time imaging of atherosclerotic plaques has been developed, providing high resolution and deep tissue penetration at the same time. This catheter, with an outer diameter of 1.18mm, is suitable for imaging in human coronary arteries. The first in vivo 3D imaging of atherosclerotic microstructure in a rabbit abdominal aorta obtained by an integrated OCT-US catheter is presented. In addition, in vitro imaging of cadaver coronary arteries were conducted to demonstrate the imaging capabilities of this integrated catheter to classify different atherosclerotic plaque types.

Background: Intramyocardial fat deposition occurs as an age-related process and in multiple pathologic processes. Objective: We evaluated the presence of left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) intramyocardial fat with 64-slice multidetector computed tomography (MDCT). Methods: One hundred persons with no history of coronary artery disease (47 women, 53 men; mean age [± SD], 53 ± 12.2 years) and 25 patients with CT findings of myocardial infarction (17 men, 8 women; mean age, 71.3 ± 9.6 years) were studied for intramyocardial fat in defined segments of the ventricles (17 LV and 10 RV segments) at 3 levels. Fat deposition was defined as density range of −30 to −190 Hounsfield units on images both before and after contrast. Results: In healthy persons, LV intramyocardial fat was primarily located in the basal segments (5% anteroseptal, 5% inferior), and RV intramyocardial fat was primarily located in the anterolateral (24% of base, 23% of mid) and inferolateral (27% base, 27% mid) segments. Older age was associated with an increased odds of RV (sex-adjusted odds ratio [OR] per decade increment, 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11–2.33; P = 0.012) but not LV (OR, 0.97; 95% CI, 0.67–1.40; P = 0.85) intramyocardial fat. Compared with women, men had a lower risk of LV (95% CI, 0.1–0.64; P = 0.004) but not RV (95% CI, 0.35–1.87; P = 0.62) intramyocardial fat. Patients with old myocardial infarction (>3 years) had increased percentage of fat in infarcted left ventricles at all 3 levels (P ≤ 0.004). Conclusions: Intramyocardial fat can be detected by MDCT and is common in healthy and infarcted myocardium. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]