Does intravascular ultrasound provide safe and feasible assessment of stent expansion and restenosis compared to angiography in patients with stented coronary lesions?
Intravascular ultrasound is a safe and feasible imaging modality that provides a more comprehensive assessment of stent expansion and restenosis mechanisms than standard angiography.
This study demonstrates the safe and feasible application of intravascular ultrasound in patients with stented coronary lesions. Differences between the angiographic and ultrasonic measurements are presumably the result of the limitations of radiography in complex and eccentric lesions. Intracoronary ultrasound provides a unique comprehensive assessment of stent expansion, neointimal proliferation, and restenosis mechanisms. Thus, intravascular ultrasound may also have implications regarding the indication for, and optimal deployment of, intracoronary stents.
Mudra et al. (Wed,) studied this question.