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Potential of optical frequency domain imaging for differentiation between early and advanced coronary atherosclerosis

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Abstract

Purpose

This study evaluated whether optical frequency domain imaging (OFDI) accurately distinguish between fibroatheroma (FA) and pathological intimal thickening (PIT) compared with histopathology.

Methods

A total of 631 histological cross-sections from 14 autopsy hearts were analyzed for the comparison between OFDI and histological images. Of those, 190 (30%) sections were diagnosed with PIT and 120 (19%) with FA. The OFDI signal attenuation rate was calculated from an exponential. The lipid length was measured longitudinally by detection of sequential OFDI frames within a plaque segment containing lipids. The lipid arc was measured with a protractor centered in the center of the lumen. The fibrous cap thickness was defined as the minimum thickness of the signal rich band overlying PIT and FA.

Results

There was no significant difference in the OFDI signal attenuation rate between FA and PIT (3.09 ± 1.04 versus 2.79 ± 1.20, p = 0.13). However, the lipid length was significantly longer, the maximum lipid arc was significantly larger, and the fibrous cap thickness was significantly thinner in FA than in PIT (7.5 [4.3–10.3] mm versus 4.3 [2.7–5.8] mm, p < 0.0001, 125 [101–174]° versus 96 [74–131]°, p < 0.0001, and 220 [167–280] µm versus 260 [190–332] µm, p = 0.019).

Conclusions

This study revealed OFDI may have the potential capability for discriminating FA from PIT based on the longitudinal and circumferential extent of lipid plaque, although the OFDI signal attenuation rate was similar between FA and PIT.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the staffs in the Department of Surgical Pathology at Hyogo College of Medicine for their excellent assistance for the study.

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Cardiovascular and Renal Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Hyogo, Japan

    Takahiro Imanaka MD, Takamasa Tanaka MD, Koji Yanaka MD, Toshio Kimura MD, Nagataka Yoshihara MD, Kojiro Miki MD, Kenji Kawai MD, Hirokuni Akahori MD & Masaharu Ishihara MD

  2. Division of Surgical Pathology, Hyogo College of Medicine, 1-1, Mukogawa-cho, 6638501, Nishinomiya-city, Hyogo, Japan

    Takahiro Imanaka MD, Kenichi Fujii MD, Takamasa Tanaka MD, Koji Yanaka MD, Toshio Kimura MD, Nagataka Yoshihara MD, Kojiro Miki MD, Kenji Kawai MD, Hirokuni Akahori MD, Rika Kawakami MD, Seiichi Hirota MD & Masaharu Ishihara MD

  3. Division of Human Pathology, Department of Pathology and Microbiology, Nihon University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan

    Rika Kawakami MD, Hiroyuki Hao MD & Seiichi Hirota MD

Authors
  1. Takahiro Imanaka MD
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  2. Kenichi Fujii MD
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  3. Takamasa Tanaka MD
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  13. Masaharu Ishihara MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kenichi Fujii MD.

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Conflicts of interest

Takahiro Imanaka has nothing to declare for this study. Masaharu Ishihara received research fund from Amgen Inc. (Japan), and lecture fees from Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd. (Japan), Daiichi Sankyo Company (Japan), Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim Co., Ltd. (Japan), and Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Japan), and scholarship funds from Abbott Co.,Ltd. (Japan), Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co.,Ltd. (Japan), MID,Inc. (Japan), Ono Pharmaceutical Co.,Ltd. (Japan), Orbusneich Medical K. K. (Japan), Kowa Pharmaceutical Co.,Ltd. (Japan), Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (Japan), Terumo Corporation (Japan), Nipro Corporation (Japan), Lifeline Co.,Ltd. (Japan), Bayer Yakuhin, Ltd. (Japan), Fukuda Denshi Co.,Ltd. (Japan), and Boston Scientific K.K. (Japan), and endowed departments from Abbott (Japan), Medtronic Japan Co., Ltd. (Japan), and Nippon Boehringer Ingelheim Co., Ltd. (Japan). No other potential conflicts of interest relating to this article were reported.

Ethics approval

The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Hyogo College of Medicine (approval number 3766).

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Imanaka, T., Fujii, K., Tanaka, T. et al. Potential of optical frequency domain imaging for differentiation between early and advanced coronary atherosclerosis. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging 38, 2791–2799 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-022-02600-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10554-022-02600-4

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