Comparative study of intravascular ultrasound and coronary angiography in diagnosis of patients with suspected coronary aretery disease

Objective To appraise the value of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in early diagnosis of patients with suspected coronary aretery disease (CAD).Methods Coronary angiography (CAG) was performed in all patients with suspected CAD, and IVUS in case when CAG showing insignificant stenosis. The diagnotic value of the two methods for suspected CAD was then analysed and compared.Results In 22 patients, CAG showed no stenosis in 7 cases and mild stenosis in 15, but IVUS could discover significant and various kinds of atheromatous plaques. The degree of arterial stenosis (percentages of stenosed arterial diameter and area) in CAG was significantly less well shown than those by IVUS (21.17%±10.93% vs 37.87%±10.07%,P=0.006;37.05%±19.14% vs 57.87% ±13.93%,P=0.001, respectively). The rates of detection with IVUS were more than those with CAG for calcified lesion, eccentric lesion, diffuse lesion and lesions in left main trunk and bifurcation(P0.05). Conclusion CAG significantly underestimates the degree of vascular lesions. IVUS has important clinical value in the early diagnosis of suspected CAD and provides objective evidences for option of therapeutic regimes.