Optical coherence tomography versus angiographic guidance in true unprotected left main bifurcation disease: an OCTOBER substudy

BACKGROUND: Dedicated randomised studies on intravascular imaging guidance in unprotected left main coronary artery (LMCA) disease are lacking. AIMS: We aimed to investigate the clinical feasibility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) guidance in percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of true LMCA bifurcation lesions and to evaluate its prognostic impact compared with angiographic guidance. METHODS: Patients with true LMCA bifurcation lesions who were randomised to either OCT or angiographic guidance in the OCTOBER Trial were included. The feasibility of OCT guidance was assessed as the proportion of patients with successful and analysable OCT pullbacks before, during, and after stenting. Clinical outcomes between the two groups were compared based on the incidence of a composite of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), comprising cardiac death, any myocardial infarction, or target lesion revascularisation. RESULTS: In total, 227 patients were included (OCT: 111, angiography: 116). OCT guidance was successful, with 98% of cases having a pre-stenting pullback performed and 96% a final pullback, as per protocol. The proximal LMCA stent edge was analysable in 43% of patients, and in the remaining 57%, only 5% were limited by insufficient image quality. No statistically significant difference in MACE was observed between the two groups (OCT: 14.4% vs angiography: 18.4%, hazard ratio 0.78, 95% confidence interval: 0.39-1.51). CONCLUSIONS: OCT-guided PCI in true LMCA bifurcation lesions was clinically feasible, but visibility of the LMCA ostium was limited by short pullbacks, insufficient clearance, or guide catheter shadowing. OCT guidance was associated with a non-significant reduction in MACE, consistent with the effect estimate in the main trial.