Fumiyasu Seike

A recurrent coronary honeycomb-like structure: insights from angioscopy and optical coherence tomography.

A 64-year-old man with acute cerebral infarction underwent successful thrombolytic therapy, after which ECG indicated abnormal Q waves in leads V1–V3. There were no chest symptoms and his cardiac enzyme levels were normal, but he was referred to us for further evaluation. Resting T1–T201 myocardial perfusion scintigraphy and coronary computed tomography angiography were performed, and a cardiac fusion image was obtained (Fig. 1). A myocardial perfusion defect was observed in the vicinity of the left anterior ascending coronary artery, which was determined to be a previous, silent myocardial infarction.

Characterization of high-intensity plaques on noncontrast T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging by coronary angioscopy

BACKGROUND A recent study showed that coronary high-intensity plaques (HIPs) visualized by noncontrast T1-weighted imaging (T1WI) in cardiac magnetic resonance were associated with coronary events. We used coronary angioscopy to analyze HIP plaque morphology. METHODS AND RESULTS A total 17 lesions from 17 patients with stable or unstable angina pectoris were evaluated at the culprit lesion by noncontrast T1WI using 1.5-T magnetic resonance; of them, nine (53%) were HIPs and eight (47%) were non-HIPs, and all were analyzed by coronary angioscopy. We assessed the existence of thrombus and plaque yellow color grade (YG). YG was assessed visually according to a four-grade scale: 0, white; 1, light yellow; 2, yellow; 3, intense yellow. The frequency of thrombus was significantly higher in HIPs than in non-HIPs (89% vs. 25%, respectively; p=0.007). YG was significantly more frequent in HIPs than in non-HIPs (2.2±0.4 vs. 0.7±0.7, respectively; p=0.01). CONCLUSIONS These data indicated that HIPs on noncontrast T1WI were associated with the presence of high-grade yellow plaque with thrombus.

Intracoronary Optical Coherence Tomography-Derived Virtual Fractional Flow Reserve for the Assessment of Coronary Artery Disease

Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is widely used for the assessment of myocardial ischemia. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides accurate visualization of coronary artery morphology. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between FFR and OCT-derived FFR. We retrospectively analyzed 31 lesions (25 left anterior descending arteries, 2 left circumflex arteries, and 4 right coronary arteries) in 31 patients with moderate-to-severe coronary stenosis, who underwent OCT and FFR measurements simultaneously. OCT-derived FFR was calculated by the original algorithm, which was calculated using the following equation based on fluid dynamics: ΔP = FV + SV2, where V is the flow velocity, F is the coefficient of pressure loss because of viscous friction (Poiseuille resistance), and S is the coefficient of local pressure loss because of abrupt enhancement (flow separation). Mean values of % diameter stenosis by quantitative coronary angiography and FFR were 55.2 ± 14.0% and 0.70 ± 0.14, respectively. OCT-derived FFR showed a stronger linear correlation with FFR measurements (r = 0.89, p <0.001; root mean square error = 0.062 FFR units) than quantitative coronary angiography % diameter stenosis (r = -0.65, p <0.001), OCT measurements of minimum lumen area (r = 0.68, p <0.001), and % area stenosis (r = -0.70, p <0.001). OCT-derived FFR has the potential to become an alternative method for the assessment of functional myocardial ischemia, and may elucidate the relation between coronary morphology and FFR.

Relationship between yellow plaque grade and tissue protrusion after stent implantation: A coronary angioscopy study

BACKGROUND Tissue protrusion detected with optical coherence tomography after percutaneous coronary intervention using stents is one of the risk factors for early stent thrombosis. However, tissue protrusion features have not been described. The aim of this study was to compare tissue morphology at stented sites with or without tissue protrusion by using coronary angioscopy. METHODS Using optical coherence tomography and coronary angioscopy, we assessed 42 patients [31 men, 11 women; age, 70.7±7.4years; acute coronary syndrome (ACS), n=19; effort angina pectoris (EAP), n=23] after stenting. RESULTS Twenty patients had tissue protrusion. ACS patients had a higher incidence of tissue protrusion than EAP patients (70.0% vs 29.4%; p=0.002). The plaque at the protrusion site had higher-grade yellow plaque with thrombus than those without protrusion (2.35±0.67 vs 1.40±0.67; p<0.001). The plaque at protrusion sites developed more thrombi (60.0% vs 22.7%; p=0.041). CONCLUSIONS Tissue protrusion after stent implantation was associated with high-grade yellow plaque with thrombi.

Clinical Features of Early Myocardial Rupture of Acute Myocardial Infarction

We assessed the clinical features of patients with myocardial rupture within 48 to 72 hours, defined as early myocardial rupture, after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-segment elevation acute myocardial infarction (STEMI). Six patients (4 men, 66 ± 13 years) with early myocardial rupture were identified from 1252 consecutive patients undergoing PCI for STEMI. We evaluated the degree of microvascular reperfusion using thrombolysis in myocardial infarction (TIMI) myocardial perfusion (TMP) grade and a resolution of sum of ST-segment elevation in a 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG). Time from PCI to myocardial rupture was 11 ± 7 hours. All patients showed TMP grade 0 or 1 and an increase in sum of ST-segment elevation after PCI (1.9 ± 0.5 vs 2.5 ± 0.7 mV; P = .032), suggesting severely failed reperfusion at the level of microcirculation as the common feature to develop early myocardial rupture after PCI for STEMI.

Unstable Saphenous Vein Graft Atheroma in Patients With Stable Angina Pectoris

Although saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) are widely used as conduits for coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), SVG atheroma following CABG remains one of the major concerns. However, the morphological characteristics of old SVGs are not fully understood, especially in patients with stable angina pectoris. We imaged 9 consecutive SVGs in patients with stable angina pectoris using optical coherence tomography and coronary angioscopy. The clinical, optical coherence tomography, and coronary angioscopy characteristics of the SVGs are summarized in the Table. Multimodality imaging observations were performed in 4 SVGs without stenosis (nonculprit) and in 5 SVGs with significant stenosis before percutaneous coronary intervention (culprit). The graft age of the 7 SVGs (old SVGs) was >10 years, and the remaining 2 SVGs (young SVGs) were aged <1 …

Intravascular Ultrasound-Derived Virtual Fractional Flow Reserve for the Assessment of Myocardial Ischemia

BACKGROUND Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is widely used for the assessment of myocardial ischemia. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is an intracoronary imaging method that provides information about lumen and vessel morphology. Previous studies on the expanded use of IVUS to identify functional ischemia have noted an association between anatomy and physiology, but IVUS-derived minimum lumen area (MLA) has a weak-moderate correlation with myocardial ischemia compared with FFR. We developed a method to calculate FFR using IVUS-derived anatomical information for the assessment of myocardial ischemia. The aims of this study were to investigate the relationship between wire-based FFR and IVUS-derived FFR (IVUS-FFR) and to compare the usefulness of IVUS-FFR and IVUS-derived MLA for functional assessment.Methods and Results:We retrospectively analyzed 50 lesions in 48 patients with coronary stenosis who underwent IVUS and FFR simultaneously. IVUS-FFR was calculated using our original algorithm and fluid dynamics. Mean percent diameter stenosis determined on quantitative coronary angiography and on FFR was 56.4±10.7 and 0.69±0.08, respectively. IVUS-FFR had a stronger linear correlation with FFR (R=0.78, P<0.001; root mean square error, 0.057 FFR units) than with IVUS-derived MLA (R=0.43, P=0.002). CONCLUSIONS IVUS-FFR may be a more valuable method to identify myocardial ischemia, compared with IVUS-derived MLA.

Clinical significance of atrial high-rate episodes for thromboembolic events in Japanese population

Objective The clinical significance of atrial high-rate episodes (AHREs) detected by cardiac devices among patients with implantable pacemakers has recently emerged. However, the relationship between AHREs and ischaemic stroke and systemic embolism (SE) is not well understood in the Japanese population. Methods This study included 343 patients with pacemakers capable of continuous atrial rhythm monitoring (167 males; mean age, 80±7 years). Atrial tachyarrhythmia detection was programmed to the nominal setting of each device, and AHRE was defined as any episode of sustained atrial tachyarrhythmia lasting for more than 6 min. Thromboembolic risk was defined based on the CHADS2 score. Results During the follow-up period (52±30 months), 165 (48%) patients had at least one episode of AHREs, and 19 (6%) patients experienced stroke/SE. Among patients who experienced stroke/SE, 14 had AHREs before the stroke/SE. AHREs were significantly associated with stroke/SE (HR 2.87; 95% CI 1.10 to 8.90; p=0.03). Subgroup analysis conducted to investigate the impact of the CHADS2 score severity on stroke/SE revealed that AHREs were not associated with stroke/SE in patients with low or intermediate thromboembolic risk (CHADS2 score 0–2; n=217). In contrast, among patients with high thromboembolic risk (CHADS2 score>2; n=126), there was a significant association between AHREs and the incidence of stroke/SE (HR 3.73; 95% CI 1.06 to 13.1; p=0.04). Conclusion AHREs detected by pacemaker were associated with ischaemic stroke/SE in the Japanese population. However, this association was observed only in the high thromboembolic risk group.

Angioscopic Findings of Acute Myocardial Infarction After Kawasaki Disease

(KD). She complained of chest pain and had cardiac arrest. Although circulatory function returned spontaneously, disturbance of consciousness continued (Japan coma scale score, 20). Electrocardiogram showed ST elevation in II, III, aVF, and laboratory data indicated elevated CK at 255 IU/L (CK-MB, 36 IU/L). In addition, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) was 61 mg/dL, and highA 25-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of cardiac arrest. She was a non-smoker, had no hypertension or diabetes mellitus, but did have dyslipidemia. She did not take any medicines before admission. She had a fever lasting approximately 1 week, and she had developed a rash at approximately 2 years old, but she was never diagnosed as having Kawasaki disease

ASSOCIATION OF THE AMOUNT OF MYOCARDIUM SUBTENDED BY A CORONARY STENOSIS WITH FRACTIONAL FLOW RESERVE

Fractional flow reserve (FFR) is specifically related to the severity of a coronary stenosis to the amount of myocardium to be perfused. Recently, we became able to estimate the myocardial area at risk (MAAR) using coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) and Voronoi algorithm-based myocardial