Summary
Thin-cap fibroatheroma (IDTCFA) lesions are more prevalent in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) than in patients with stable angina. Researchers used intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) with virtual histology (IVUS-VH) to assess the prevalence of IDTCFA lesions in patients with ACS and stable angina. They found that IDTCFA lesions were more prevalent in patients with ACS (3.0 [IQR 0.0 to 5.0]) than in patients with stable angina (1.0 [IQR 0.0 to 2.8]).
There was no significant relationship between the presence of IDTCFA and patient characteristics such as gender, diabetes, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertension, or family history of coronary heart disease. There was a clustering pattern of IDTCFA lesions along the coronaries, with more lesions in the first 10 mm segment than in the other segments.
The severity and composition of IDTCFA lesions were not significantly different between patients with ACS and stable angina. The authors conclude that IVUS-VH is a useful tool for identifying IDTCFA lesions in patients with ACS and stable angina. They also conclude that IDTCFA lesions are more prevalent in patients with ACS than in patients with stable angina.
