Diagnostic Performance of High-Resolution Intravascular Ultrasound for Abnormal Post-Stent Findings After Stent Implantation A Comparison Study Between High-Resolution Intravascular Ultrasound and Optical Coherence Tomography

Background: High-resolution intravascular ultrasound (HR-IVUS) is the most recently developed IVUS technology, which allows the detailed assessment of intravascular structures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the diagnostic performance of HR-IVUS in the detection of abnormal post-stent findings. Methods and Results: Patients with acute coronary syndrome underwent both HR-IVUS and optical coherence tomography (OCT) for post-stent evaluations. Quantitative measurements for stented segments and qualitative assessments for abnormal post-stent findings (stent edge dissection, intrastent tissue protrusion, and incomplete stent apposition [ISA]) were performed. Forty-seven patients underwent both HR-IVUS and OCT after stent implantation. HR-IVUS identified a larger minimal lumen area and a larger minimal lumen diameter than OCT (6.66 +/- 1.98mm(2) vs. 5.61 +/- 1.79mm(2) and 2.87 +/- 0.42mm vs. 2.63 +/- 0.43 mm, respectively; both P<0.001). The sensitivity of HR-IVUS for the identification of stent edge dissection, intrastent tissue protrusion, and ISA were 20.0%, 48.9%, and 27.2%, respectively. Conclusions: In terms of post-stent evaluation, the diagnostic performance of HR-IVUS remains insufficient. Abnormal post-stent findings might be underestimated when performing HR-IVUS due to its low sensitivity.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the diagnostic performance of HR-IVUS in detecting abnormal post-stent findings, finding that it had low sensitivity for identifying stent edge dissection, intrastent tissue protrusion, and ISA. The assessment of abnormal post-stent findings may be underestimated due to the low sensitivity of HR-IVUS.