Clinical study of vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques detection by using intravascular ultrasound-virtual histology

【Objective】To compare the tissue characteristics of the atherosclerotic plaques in acute coronary syndrome(ACS) and stable angina(SA) patients by intravascular ultrasound-virtual histology(IVUS-VH) and assess their clinical correlates with plasma lipoprotein.【Methods】In 32 ACS patients and 31 SA patients,culprit lesions were detected with IVUS-VH to investigate the characteristics of the atherosclerotic plaque and its clinical relevance.【Results】ACS patients presented a significantly higher prevalence of vulnerable plaques than SA patients(P 0.05).A clear clustering pattern,consisted mainly of fibro-fatty tissue and necrotic core-rich tissue,was seen along the ACS coronaries.There were higher levels of fibrous tissue and dense calcium tissue in SA patients compared to ACS patients.In these two groups,fibro-fatty tissue correlates positively with the plastic LDL levels(r = 0.08,P 0.05),and negatively with the plastic HDL levels(r = 0.08,P 0.05).【Conclusion】IVUS-VH identified vulnerable plaques as a more prevalent finding in ACS than SA patients.Combining test of cholesterol levels with detection of the vulnerable plaques via the IVUS-VH analysis is a very useful method in clinical settings.