Comparison of plaque distribution and wire-free functional assessment in patients with stable angina and non-ST elevation myocardial infarction: an optical coherence tomography and quantitative flow ratio study

Background Data comparing plaque characteristics and wire-free physiological assessment in the target vessel in patients with stable angina versus acute coronary syndrome are sparse. Therefore, we investigated the difference in plaque distribution between stable angina and non-ST-elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) and explored the relationship between target vessel vulnerability by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and wire-free functional assessment with quantitative flow ratio (QFR). Methods Patients with stable angina (n = 25) and NSTEMI (n = 24) were in the final prospective study cohort from the DECODE study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02335086). All 5480 OCT frames in the region of interest were analyzed to study plaque morphology in the target vessel. QFR was analyzed from baseline coronary angiography before percutaneous coronary intervention. Vulnerable vessel score (VVS) was calculated from each plaque, and vessel QFR was then compared. Results Out of all frames, thin-cap fibroatheroma was common with NSTEMI compared to stable angina (10.9 versus 6.3%, P 
Source: Coronary Artery Disease - Category: Cardiology Tags: Acute Coronary Syndromes Source Type: research