title: Coronary artery remodelling is related to plaque composition.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the potential relation between plaque composition and vascular remodelling by using spectral analysis of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) radiofrequency data.
  
  
  RESULTS
  41 coronary vessels with non-significant (< 50% diameter stenosis by angiography), < or = 20 mm, non-ostial lesions located in non-culprit vessels underwent IVUS interrogation. IVUS radiofrequency data obtained with a 30 MHz catheter, were analysed with IVUS virtual histology software. A remodelling index (RI) was calculated and divided into three groups. Lesions with RI > or = 1.05 were considered to have positive remodelling and lesions with RI < or = 0.95 were considered to have negative remodelling. Lesions with RI > or = 1.05 had a significantly larger lipid core than lesions with RI 0.96-1.04 and RI < or = 0.95 (22.1 (6.3) v 15.1 (7.6) v 6.6 (6.9), p < 0.0001). A positive correlation between lipid core and RI (r = 0.83, p < 0.0001) and an inverse correlation between fibrous tissue and RI (r = -0.45, p = 0.003) were also significant. All of the positively remodelled lesions were thin cap fibroatheroma or fibroatheromatous lesions, whereas negatively remodelled lesions had a more stable phenotype, with 64% having pathological intimal thickening, 29% being fibrocalcific lesions, and only 7% fibroatheromatous lesions (p < 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, in vivo plaque composition and morphology assessed by spectral analysis of IVUS radiofrequency data were related to coronary artery remodelling.
authors.affiliation: Thoraxcentre, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez-Granillo
authors.forename: P W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Serruys
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Garcia-Garcia
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Valgimigli
authors.forename: C A G
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: van Mieghem
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: McFadden
authors.forename: P P T
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: de Jaegere
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: de Feyter
mesh_terms: D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014463:Ultrasonography