Prevalence and associated factors of thin-cap fibroatheroma in coronary arteries assessed by optical coherence tomography
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Abstract
This study aimed to describe the morphological characteristics of coronary atherosclerotic plaques using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and to investigate factors associated with thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA). A cross-sectional study was conducted on 160 patients with coronary artery disease, including 185 coronary lesions evaluated by OCT during percutaneous coronary intervention. The prevalence of TCFA was 15.7%. Other high-risk plaque features were also identified, with fibrous plaques being the most common morphology (93.5%), followed by calcification (61.1%) and lipid-rich plaques (32.4%). The prevalence of TCFA was significantly higher in patients with acute coronary syndrome compared with those with chronic coronary syndrome (40.7% vs. 4.0%, p < 0.001), and acute coronary syndrome was independently associated with the presence of TCFA. These findings indicate that OCT enables detailed assessment of coronary plaque morphology and facilitates the detection of vulnerable plaque features such as TCFA, which are more frequently observed in patients with acute coronary syndrome.
Article Details
Keywords
Optical coherence tomography, percutaneous coronary intervention, thin-cap fibroatheroma
References
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