Arterial Remodeling After Coronary Angioplasty

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Abstract
Background Restenosis occurs after 30% to 50% of transcatheter coronary procedures; however, the natural history and pathophysiology of restenosis are still incompletely understood. Methods and Results Serial (postintervention and follow-up) intravascular ultrasound imaging was used to study 212 native coronary lesions in 209 patients after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, directional coronary atherectomy, rotational atherectomy, or excimer laser angioplasty. The external elastic membrane (EEM) and lumen cross-sectional areas (CSA) were measured; plaque plus media (P+M) CSA was calculated as EEM minus lumen CSA. The anatomic slice selected for serial analysis had an axial location within the target lesion at the smallest follow-up lumen CSA. At follow-up, 73% of the decrease in lumen (from 6.6±2.5 to 4.0±3.7 mm2, P<.0001) was due to a decrease in EEM (from 20.1±6.4 to 18.2±6.4 mm2, P<.0001); 27% was due to an increase in P+M (from 13.5±5.5 to 14.2±5.4 mm2, P<.0001). ΔLumen CSA correlated mo...