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An 80-year-old man with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction underwent primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for 99% stenosis of the proximal right coronary artery. He underwent a successful PCI with drug-eluting stent implantation under the guidance of near-infrared spectroscopy intravascular ultrasound (NIRS-IVUS). However, non-culprit ruptured plaques were identified distal to the culprit lesion (Fig. 1A). The maximum 4-mm lipid core burden index (maxLCBI4 mm) of the lesion was 743. Moreover, optical coherence tomography (OCT) revealed a disrupted fibrous cap with a residual lipid-rich plaque (LRP). The minimum lumen area (MLA) was 4.4 mm2 (Fig. 1A). An aggressive lipid-lowering therapy (10 mg rosuvastatin, 10 mg ezetimibe, and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor) lowered the low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels from 171 to < 17 mg dL−1. One-year follow-up using NIRS-IVUS and OCT revealed a significant maxLCBI4 mm decrease (126), a minimum fibrous cap thickness increase, disrupted fibrous cap disappearance, and ruptured plaque healing with an expanding MLA (10 mm2) (Fig. 1B).
Previous intravascular imaging studies reported on the presence of plaque ruptures in both culprit and non-culprit lesions in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). [1, 2] Non-culprit plaque ruptures were associated with a fibroatheroma comprising a residual necrotic core. However, there were no major adverse events in patients treated with medical therapy, including statins [1]. In contrast, subclinical ruptured plaques were associated with a high rate of 1-year revascularization [2].
In our patient, NIRS-IVUS and OCT revealed morphological details and drastic changes of the ruptured non-culprit plaque with a residual LRP. A combination of an aggressive lipid-lowering therapy, consisting of a strong statin and a PCSK9 inhibitor, might have healed and stabilized the non-culprit vulnerable ruptured plaques, without significant stenosis.
These imaging findings support the possibility of administering lipid-lowering therapy for the healing and stabilization of non-culprit ruptured plaques and provide historical evidence for its clinical benefits.
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References
Xie Y, Mintz GS, Yang J, Doi H, Iñiguez A, Dangas GD, Serruys PW, McPherson JA, Wennerblom B, Xu K et al (2014) Clinical outcome of nonculprit plaque ruptures in patients with acute coronary syndrome in the PROSPECT study. JACC Cardiovasc Imaging 7:397–405. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcmg.2013.10.010
Vergallo R, Uemura S, Soeda T, Minami Y, Cho JM, Ong DS, Aguirre AD, Gao L, Biasucci LM, Crea F et al (2016) Prevalence and predictors of multiple coronary plaque ruptures: in vivo 3-vessel optical coherence tomography imaging study. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 36:2229–2238. https://doi.org/10.1161/ATVBAHA.116.307891
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KS and NW managed the patient and wrote the manuscript and figures. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Shoji, K., Wakana, N., Zen, K. et al. Non-culprit ruptured vulnerable plaque healing and stabilization by an aggressive lipid-lowering therapy. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 37, 1999–2000 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-021-02198-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-021-02198-z