Head to head comparison between the conventional balloon occlusion method and the non-occlusion method for optical coherence tomography.
BACKGROUND
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been introduced as a high-resolution imaging modality for the coronary arteries. The current OCT system, however, has a serious limitation in that the image acquisition method requires a soft balloon occlusion to avoid signal scattering from red blood cells.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to compare OCT images from the conventional balloon occlusion method and a non-occlusion image acquisition method, the continuous-flushing method, in the clinical setting.


METHODS
OCT was performed with the conventional balloon occlusion method and the continuous-flushing method sequentially in 23 patients with stable angina. The image quality and quantitative measurements of OCT images were directly compared between the two methods.


RESULTS
There were no adverse events related to the OCT procedure in any patients. There were no changes in systolic blood pressure and heart rate during the OCT procedure. ST-segment elevation (>2 mm) was recorded in 22 of 23 (96%) patients with the balloon occlusion method, but it was only observed in 1 of 23 (4%) patients with the continuous-flushing method (p<0.01). There were no differences in the visible length (the balloon occlusion method 28.6±2.3 mm vs. the continuous-flushing method 29.2±1.6 mm, p=0.49), image quality, or quantitative measurements between the two methods.


CONCLUSIONS
OCT imaging with the continuous-flushing method could be performed safely and obtained similar quality images compared with the balloon occlusion method. OCT can be used to observe the proximal site of coronary arteries with this new technique.
Kataiwa
Hideaki
H
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
Tanaka
Atsushi
A
Kitabata
Hironori
H
Matsumoto
Hiroki
H
Kashiwagi
Manabu
M
Kuroi
Akio
A
Ikejima
Hideyuki
H
Tsujioka
Hiroto
H
Okochi
Keishi
K
Tanimoto
Takashi
T
Yamano
Takashi
T
Takarada
Shigeho
S
Nakamura
Nobuo
N
Kubo
Takashi
T
Mizukoshi
Masato
M
Hirata
Kumiko
K
Imanishi
Toshio
T
Akasaka
Takashi
T
D000368:Aged; D000787:Angina Pectoris / Q000473:pathology*; D021721:Balloon Occlusion / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*; D001794:Blood Pressure; D057791:Cardiac Imaging Techniques / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods*