title: Intravascular ultrasound radiofrequency analysis of the lesion segment profile in ACS patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Intravascular ultrasound radiofrequency analysis (IVUS-RF) characterizes plaque components as necrotic core (NC) and dense calcium (DC). The aim of this study was to perform an IVUS-RF derived analysis of the lesion segment profile in acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients. Therefore, we compared the site of the minimum lumen area--cross sectional area (mla-CSA) with the worst lesion site--CSA (ws-CSA) defined by the maximum NC site.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed IVUS-RF derived plaque composition and plaque-type classification analysis in 48 ACS patients with 48 culprit (CL) and 69 non-culprit lesions (NCL).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The plaque dimension of the mla- and ws-CSA was significantly different regarding the lumen area (5.18 +/- 2.09 mm2 vs. 6.72 +/- 2.73 mm2, p = 0.0013) and the vessel area (14.80 +/- 5.86 mm2 vs. 17.15 +/- 4.94 mm2, p = 0.0142). The absolute plaque composition was also significantly different regarding the DC tissue (0.71 +/- 0.57 mm2 vs. 0.98 +/- 0.54 mm2, p = 0.0102) and the NC tissue (1.41 +/- 1.28 mm2 vs. 1.85 +/- 1.37 mm2, p = 0.0469). The plaque-type classification revealed significantly more thin cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) lesions at the ws-CSA compared to the mla-CSA (n = 53/89.8% vs. n = 26/44.1%, p < 0.0001). In the majority of the CL and NCL lesion segments the ws-CSA was located proximal to the mla-CSA compared to the distal location (n = 65/55.6% vs. n = 23/19.7%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the majority of the lesion segments in ACS patients the ws-CSA is not identical with the mla-CSA. The ws-CSA compared to mla-CSA presented with significantly more NC and DC tissue resulting in a higher amount of TCFA lesions.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Ziemssenstr. 1, Campus Innenstadt, 80336 Munich, Germany. Andreas.Koenig@med.uni-muenchen.de
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: Øyvind
authors.initials: Ø
authors.lastname: Bleie
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rieber
authors.forename: Philip
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Schiele
authors.forename: Hae-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Leibig
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Siebert
authors.forename: Volker
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Klauss
mesh_terms: D054058:Acute Coronary Syndrome / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D018084:Ultrasonography, Interventional / Q000379:methods*