Application of intravascular ultrasound in percutaneous coronary interventional therapy

Objective To evaluate intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)in demonstrating the characteristics of coronary plaque and in implanting the coronary stent. Methods Before stent implantation, IVUS was used to observe the plaque characteristics(soft, fibrotic, calcified or mixed) as well as the eccentric degree in 28 patients with angiographically-proved single coronary branch lesion. The minimal luminal diameter, minimal cross-sectional area and plaque area were measured. After stent deployment the above measurements were repeated, and the location, symmetrical index and expansion of the stent were observed. Results A total of 36 stents was implanted in 28 patients with coronary disease. After the procedure the minimal luminal diameter and the minimal cross-sectional area was increased, while the plaque area was decreased. The difference between the values before and after the stent implantation was statistically significant (P 0.01). IVUS after stent deployment found that in all cases the stent had a nice location and covered the lesion completely with no interlayer at its both ends. Excellent expansion of the stent was seen in 30 cases (83.3%). Insufficient expansion occurred in 3 cases and undesirable contact of the stent to the arterial wall was found in 3 cases (16.7%). In such circumstances, one size bigger low-compliance balloon dilatation was adopted, or the original balloon was used again with higher pressure (18 ～ 22 atm), in order to expand the stent once more, and good results accord with IVUS optimal criteria were obtained. Conclusions IVUS can clearly demonstrate the pathological features of the coronary lesions, such as plaque type, eccentric degree, luminal diameter, cross-sectional area and plaque area, which are very helpful in guiding the selection of the proper stent before the procedure, and are also very useful in evaluating the location, expansion of the stent as well as the stent-to-wall contact condition after the procedure.