title: Validation of in vivo plaque characterisation by virtual histology in a rabbit model of atherosclerosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Most acute coronary syndromes are caused by plaque rupture. The risk of plaque rupture is related to plaque composition. The purpose of this study was to validate VH-IVUS for in vivo plaque characterisation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Six rabbits were fed a cholesterol-supplemented diet for 12 to 18 months. Thereafter, VH-IVUS imaging of the aorta was performed. After sacrifice, the VH-IVUS images were matched to the corresponding histological cross sections. A total of 260 atherosclerotic plaques were analysed. VH-IVUS had a high sensitivity, specificity and positive predictive value for the detection of non-calcified thin cap fibroatheroma (88%, 96%, 87%, respectively) and calcified thin cap fibroatheroma (95%, 99%, 93%, respectively). These values were respectively 82%, 94%, 85% for non-calcified fibroatheroma and 78%, 98%, 84% for calcified fibroatheroma. The lowest values were obtained for pathological intimal thickening (74%, 92%, 70%, respectively). For all plaque types, VH-IVUS had a kappa-value of 0.79. Linear regression analysis and Bland-Altman plots showed a strong correlation between VH-IVUS and histology for fibrous tissue, fibrofatty tissue, necrotic calcified tissue and confluent necrotic core.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VH-IVUS showed a good accuracy for in vivo plaque characterisation and is a promising technique for the detection of the vulnerable plaque.
authors: Division of Cardiology, Antwerp University Hospital, Belgium. jozef.vanherck@ua.ac.be
authors: Jozef
authors: J
authors: Van Herck
authors: Guido
authors: G
authors: De Meyer
authors: Guy
authors: G
authors: Ennekens
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Van Herck
authors: Arnold
authors: A
authors: Herman
authors: Christiaan
authors: C
authors: Vrints
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D002114:Calcinosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005355:Fibrosis; D009336:Necrosis; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011817:Rabbits; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013997:Time Factors; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional; D014584:User-Computer Interface
chemical_list: D002791:Cholesterol, Dietary