title: Intravascular ultrasound assessment of longitudinal plaque distribution patterns in patients with angiographically silent coronary artery disease after heart transplantation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this three-dimensional intracoronary ultrasound (ICUS) study was to assess longitudinal plaque distribution patterns in patients with angiographically silent coronary artery disease (CAD) after heart transplantation (HTX).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 334 patients without diameter stenosis >/=25% determined by coronary angiography, 321 underwent successful three-dimensional ICUS (30 MHz) of the left main coronary artery (LMCA) and all segments of the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD). Early plaque formation was found in 296 patients (92.2%). Single (focal CAD, n = 65) or multiple (polyfocal CAD, n = 77), discrete coronary lesions were found in 142 patients and continuous plaque formation of at least one entire coronary segment (diffuse CAD) in 154 patients. Using multivariate regression analysis, male sex (P = 0.01), increasing post-transplantation time (P = 0.003) and increasing donor age (P = 0.001) were independent clinical predictors for diffuse CAD. Both focal and diffuse CAD most frequently affected the proximal LAD (88% compared with 89.6%, NS). The mean intimal index of each LAD segment was significantly higher in patients with diffuse CAD (P < 0.001) and showed a proximal-to-distal decline in patients with focal/polyfocal (LMCA, 10.1 +/- 14.3, LAD-6, 30.1 +/- 17.4%, LAD-7, 16.3 +/- 14.1%, LAD-8, 4.6 +/- 11.1%; P < 0.001) and diffuse (LMCA, 27.0 +/- 16.0, LAD-6, 47.8 +/- 16.1%, LAD-7, 41.9 +/- 14.5%, LAD-8, 24.9 +/- 23.3%; P < 0.01) CAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Evaluation of longitudinal plaque distribution after HTX by three-dimensional ICUS revealed a time-dependent increase in the incidence of diffuse CAD and a proximal-to-distal decline in frequency and magnitude of early plaque formation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine-Cardiology, Humboldt University Berlin, Germany. wolfgang.bocksch@charite.de
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bocksch
authors.forename: Ernst
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Wellnhofer
authors.forename: Waldemar
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Klimek
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schartl
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dreysse
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Musci
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hummel
authors.forename: Roland
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hetzer
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D005260:Female; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013997:Time Factors; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional