Relationship between thin cap fibroatheroma identified by virtual histology and angioscopic yellow plaque in quantitative analysis with colorimetry.
BACKGROUND
Thin cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) is considered to be a vulnerable plaque. Virtual Histology-intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) can precisely identify TCFA in vivo. Intense yellow plaque on angioscopy determined by quantitative colorimetry with L a b color space corresponds with histological TCFA; in particular, a plaque of color b value >23 indicates an atheroma with a fibrous cap thickness <100 mum. In the present study, the relationship between VH-TCFA and angioscopic plaque color determined by colorimetry was investigated.


RESULTS
Fifty-seven culprit plaques in 57 patients were evaluated by VH-IVUS and angioscopy. VH-TCFA was defined as a plaque with a necrotic core >10% of plaque area without overlying fibrous tissue, and angioscopic TCFA was a plaque with b value >23. The frequency of angioscopic TCFA was higher in the VH-TCFA group than in the VH-non-TCFA group (74% vs 23%, P=0.0002). Moreover, yellow color intensity (b value) significantly correlated with plaque classification on VH-IVUS. When TCFA detected with angioscopy was used as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for TCFA with VH-IVUS was 68%, 81%, and 75%, respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
VH-TCFA strongly correlated with angioscopic TCFA determined by a quantitative analysis with colorimetry.
Yamamoto
Masanori
M
Department of Internal Medicine, Chiba-Hokusoh Hospital, Nippon Medical School, Chiba, Japan.
Takano
Masamichi
M
Okamatsu
Kentaro
K
Murakami
Daisuke
D
Inami
Shigenobu
S
Xie
Yong
Y
Seimiya
Koji
K
Ohba
Takayoshi
T
Seino
Yoshihiko
Y
Mizuno
Kyoichi
K
D000368:Aged; D017546:Angioscopy / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000145:classification / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology*; D003116:Color; D003124:Colorimetry / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009336:Necrosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*