title: Comparison of coronary plaque characteristics between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects: An in vivo optical coherence tomography study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Postmortem series have reported that subjects with diabetes mellitus have coronary plaques with larger necrotic cores and increased macrophage infiltration. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a high-resolution imaging modality that allows in vivo characterization of atherosclerotic plaques. Using OCT imaging, we compared in vivo plaque characteristics between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-three patients undergoing cardiac catheterization were enrolled. OCT imaging was performed in culprit coronary arteries. Assessment of plaque lipid content, fibrous cap thickness and frequency of thin-cap fibroatheroma were made independently. Macrophage density was determined from the optical signal within fibrous cap.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-two plaques in total were imaged (19 diabetic vs. 63 non-diabetic). There were no significant differences in frequency of lipid-rich plaques (68% vs. 71%; P=0.78), thin-cap fibroatheroma (29% vs. 36%; P=0.76) or minimum fibrous cap thickness (66.6microm vs. 62.9microm; P=0.87) between diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Fibrous cap macrophage density was higher in lipid-rich plaques (P=0.01) but showed no difference between diabetic and non-diabetic patients (5.94% vs. 5.94%; P=0.37).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There were no significant differences in culprit vessel plaque characteristics between diabetic and non-diabetic patients presenting with coronary artery disease. This represents the first study to characterize coronary plaques in diabetic patients using OCT.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, 55 Fruit Street GRB 800, Boston, MA, United States.
authors.forename: Stanley
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chia
authors.forename: O Christopher
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Raffel
authors.forename: Masamichi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.forename: Guillermo J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Tearney
authors.forename: Brett E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Bouma
authors.forename: Ik-Kyung
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002102:Cadaver; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D003925:Diabetic Angiopathies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence