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Aims: There is a paucity of data on the performance of angiography-derived vessel fractional flow reserve (vFFR) in coronary artery lesions of patients presenting with non-ST-segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTE-ACS). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) allows for visualization of lumen dimensions and plaque integrity with high resolution. The aim of the present study was to define the association between vFFR and OCT findings in intermediate coronary artery lesions in patients presenting with NSTE-ACS., Methods and Results: The FAST OCT study was a prospective, multicenter, single-arm study. Patients presenting with NSTE-ACS with intermediate to severe coronary artery stenosis in one or multiple vessels with TIMI 3 flow suitable for OCT imaging were eligible. Complete pre-procedural vFFR and OCT data were available in 226 vessels (in 188 patients). A significant association between vFFR and minimal lumen area (MLA) was observed, showing an average decrease of 20.4% (95% CI -23.9% - -16.7%) in MLA per 0.10 decrease in vFFR (adjusted p<0.001). vFFR≤0.80 showed a sensitivity of 56.7% and specificity of 92.5% to detect MLA≤2.5 mm². Conversely, vFFR had a poor to moderate discriminative ability to detect plaque instability (sensitivity, 46.9% specificity 71.6%)., Conclusions: In patients with NSTE-ACS, vFFR is significantly associated with OCT-detected MLA and a vFFR≤0.80 is highly predictive for the presence of significant disease based on OCT. Conversely, the sensitivity of vFFR≤0.80 to detect OCT-assessed significant disease was low, indicating that the presence of significant OCT findings cannot be ruled out based on a negative vFFR., Clinicaltrials.gov Id: NCT04683133., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology.)

Objective: Thinner stent struts might lead to a higher risk of recoil and subsequently a smaller minimal stent area (MSA), which is known to be the strongest predictor of stent failure. We compared procedural performance between an ultrathin-strut biodegradable-polymer sirolimus-eluting stent (BP-SES) and a durable-polymer zotarolimus-eluting stent (DP-ZES) using intracoronary imaging., Methods: A consecutive cohort of patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with either BP-SES or DP-ZES in a pseudorandomized fashion between July 2018 and October 2019. In the present subanalysis, we included cases in which post-PCI imaging with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) or optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed. The primary endpoint of the study was MSA. Secondary endpoints included percentage stent expansion and presence of residual edge disease, malapposition, tissue protrusion, submedial edge dissections, or edge hematoma., Results: A total of 141 treated lesions (78 BP-SES and 63 DP-ZES) in 127 patients were analyzed. Median age was 69.3 years (interquartile range [IQR], 57.3-75.6) and 74.0% of patients were male. All baseline and procedural characteristics were comparable between both groups. Median MSA was 5.80 mm² (IQR, 4.40-7.24) for BP-SES and 6.35 mm² (IQR, 4.76-8.31) for DP-ZES (P=.15). No significant differences in stent expansion, residual edge disease and presence of malapposition, tissue protrusion, submedial edge dissections, or edge hematomas were found. Stent diameter and stent length were found to be independent predictors of MSA., Conclusions: No significant differences in MSA were found between lesions treated with BP-SES vs DP-ZES. BP-SES and DP-ZES were comparable in terms of procedural performance.

Background: Stent underexpansion increases the risk of cardiac adverse events. At present, there are limited options to treat refractory stent underexpansion. In this context, the intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) system might be a safe and effective strategy., Aims: We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of IVL in addressing resistant stent underexpansion due to heavy underlying calcification., Methods: This was an international multicentre registry including patients receiving IVL therapy to treat stent underexpansion from December 2017 to August 2020. Angiographic and intracoronary imaging data were collected. The efficacy endpoint was device success (technical success with a final percentage diameter stenosis <50%). The safety endpoint was in-hospital major adverse cardiac events (MACE)., Results: Seventy patients were included, the mean age was 73±9.2 years and 76% were male. The median time from stent implantation to IVL therapy was 49 days (0-2,537). Adjuvant treatment with non-compliant balloon dilatations pre- and post-IVL was performed in 72.3% and 76.8% of patients, respectively, and additional stenting was performed in 22.4%. Device success was 92.3%. Minimum lumen diameter increased from 1.49±0.73 mm to 2.41±0.67 mm (p<0.001) and stent expansion increased by 124.93±138.19% (p=0.016). No IVL-related procedural complications or MACE were observed. The use of bailout IVL therapy directly after stenting and the presence of ostial underexpanded lesions negatively predicted lumen diameter gain., Conclusions: Coronary lithotripsy is safe and effective in increasing lumen and stent dimensions in underexpanded stents secondary to heavily calcified lesions.

Background: Post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) fractional flow reserve (FFR) <0.90 is common and has been related to impaired patient outcome., Objectives: The authors sought to evaluate if PCI optimization directed by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in patients with post-PCI FFR <0.90 could improve 1-year target vessel failure (TVF) rates., Methods: In this single-center, randomized, double-blind trial, patients with a post-PCI FFR <0.90 at the time of angiographically successful PCI were randomized to IVUS-guided optimization or the standard of care (control arm). The primary endpoint was TVF (a composite of cardiac death, spontaneous target vessel myocardial infarction, and clinically driven target vessel revascularization) at 1 year., Results: A total of 291 patients with post-PCI FFR <0.90 were randomized (IVUS-guided optimization arm: n = 145/152 vessels, control arm: n = 146/157 vessels). The mean post-PCI FFR was 0.84 ± 0.05. A total of 104 (68.4%) vessels in the IVUS-guided optimization arm underwent additional optimization including additional stenting (34.9%) or postdilatation only (33.6%), resulting in a mean increase in post-PCI FFR in these vessels from 0.82 ± 0.06 to 0.85 ± 0.05 (P < 0.001) and a post-PCI FFR ≥0.90 in 20% of the vessels. The 1-year TVF rate was comparable between the 2 study arms (IVUS-guided optimization arm: 4.2%, control arm: 4.8%; P = 0.79). There was a trend toward a lower incidence of clinically driven target vessel revascularization in the IVUS-guided optimization arm (0.7% vs. 4.2%, P = 0.06)., Conclusions: IVUS-guided post-PCI FFR optimization significantly improved post-PCI FFR. Because of lower-than-expected event rates, post-PCI FFR optimization did not significantly lower TVF at the 1-year follow-up., Competing Interests: Funding Support and Author Disclosures The Erasmus Medical Center received institutional research support from ACIST Medical Systems, Inc. Dr Diletti has received institutional research grant support from ACIST Medical Systems, Inc. Dr Van Mieghem has received institutional research grant support from Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Daiichi-Sankyo, PulseCath BV, and Abiomed. Dr Daemen has received institutional grant/research support from AstraZeneca, Abbott Vascular, Boston Scientific, ACIST Medical Systems, Inc, Medtronic, Pie Medical, and ReCor medical. All other authors have reported that they have no relationships relevant to the contents of this paper to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Positive near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) signals might be encountered in areas without evident artery wall thickening, being typically perceived as artefacts., Aims: We aimed to evaluate the utility of NIRS to identify artery wall regions associated with an increase in wall thickness (WT) as assessed by serial intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT)., Methods: In this prospective, single-centre study, patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) underwent NIRS-IVUS and OCT assessment of a non-culprit artery at baseline and 12-month follow-up. For each vessel, 1.5 mm segments were identified, matched and divided into 45 sectors. The relationship between the change in IVUS-based WT (DWT) and the presence of NIRS-positive signals and OCT-detected lipid was evaluated using linear mixed models., Results: A total of 37 patients (38 vessels, 6,936 matched sectors) were analysed at baseline and 12 months. A total of 140/406 (34.5%) NIRS (+) sectors and 513/1,575 (32.6%) OCT-lipid (+) sectors were found to be located in thin (WT<0.5 mm) wall sectors. In the thin wall sectors, an increase in WT was significantly more pronounced in NIRS (+) vs NIRS (-) sectors (0.11 mm vs 0.06 mm, p<0.001). In the thick wall sectors, there was a decrease in WT observed that was less pronounced in the NIRS (+) versus NIRS (-) sectors (-0.08 mm vs -0.09 mm, p<0.001). Thin wall NIRS (+) OCT-lipid (+) sectors showed significant wall thickening (DWT=0.13 mm)., Conclusions: NIRS-positive signals in otherwise non-diseased arterial walls as assessed by IVUS could identify vessel wall regions prone to WT increase over 12-month follow-up. Our observations suggest that NIRS-positive signals in areas without evident wall thickening by IVUS should no longer be viewed as benign or imaging artefact.

Background: Coronary calcification has been linked to cardiovascular events. We developed and validated an algorithm to automatically quantify coronary calcifications on intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). We aimed to assess the prognostic value of an IVUS-calcium score (ICS) on patient-oriented composite endpoint (POCE)., Methods: We included patients that underwent coronary angiography plus pre-procedural IVUS imaging. The ICS was calculated per patient. The primary endpoint was a composite of all-cause mortality, stroke, myocardial infarction, and revascularization (POCE)., Results: In a cohort of 408 patients, median ICS was 85. Both an ICS ≥ 85 and a 100 unit increase in ICS increased the risk of POCE at 6-year follow-up (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 1.51, 95%CI 1.05-2.17, p value = 0.026, and aHR 1.21, 95%CI 1.04-1.41, p value = 0.014, respectively)., Conclusions: The ICS, calculated by a validated automated algorithm derived from routine IVUS pullbacks, was strongly associated with the long-term risk of POCE., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the feasibility of using three dimensional-quantitative coronary angiography (3D-QCA) based fractional flow reserve (FFR) (vessel fractional flow reserve [vFFR], CAAS8.1, Pie Medical Imaging) and to correlate vFFR values with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for the evaluation of intermediate left main coronary artery (LMCA) stenosis., Background: 3D-QCA derived FFR indices have been recently developed for less invasive functional lesion assessment. However, LMCA lesions were vastly under-represented in first validation studies., Methods: This observational single-center cohort study enrolled consecutive patients with stable angina, unstable angina, or non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction and nonostial, intermediate grade LMCA stenoses who underwent IVUS evaluation. vFFR was computed based on two angiograms with optimal LMCA stenosis projection and correlated with IVUS-derived minimal lumen area (MLA)., Results: A total of 256 patients with intermediate grade LMCA stenosis evaluated with IVUS were screened for eligibility; 147 patients met the clinical inclusion criteria and had a complete IVUS LMCA footage available, of them, 63 patients (63 lesions) underwent 3D-QCA and vFFR analyses. The main reason for screening failure was insufficient quality of the angiogram (51 patients,60.7%). Mean age was 65 ± 11 years, 75% were male. Overall, mean MLA within LMCA was 8.77 ± 3.17 mm 2 , while mean vFFR was 0.87 ± 0.09. A correlation was observed between vFFR and LMCA MLA (r = .792, p = .001). The diagnostic accuracy of vFFR ≤0.8 in identifying lesions with MLA < 6.0 mm 2 (sensitivity 98%, specificity 71.4%, area under the curve (AUC) 0.95, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89-1.00, p = .001) was good., Conclusions: In patients with good quality angiographic visualization of LMCA and available complete LMCA IVUS footage, 3D-QCA based vFFR assessment of LMCA disease correlates well to LMCA MLA as assessed by IVUS., (© 2020 The Authors. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.)

Aims: Bioresorbable scaffold (BRS) regions exposed to flow recirculation, low time-averaged wall shear stress (TAWSS) and high oscillatory shear index (OSI) develop increased neointima tissue. We investigated haemodynamic features in four different BRSs., Methods and Results: Fantom (strut height [SH] = 125 µm), Fantom Encore (SH = 98 µm), Absorb (SH = 157 µm) and Magmaris (SH = 150 µm) BRSs were deployed in phantom tubes and imaged with microCT. Both 2D and 3D geometrical scaffold models were reconstructed. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation was performed to compute TAWSS and OSI. Thicker struts had larger recirculation zones and lower TAWSS in 2D. Absorb had the largest recirculation zone and the lowest TAWSS (240 µm and -0.18 Pa), followed by Magmaris (170 µm and -0.15 Pa), Fantom (140 µm and -0.14 Pa) and Fantom Encore (100 µm and -0.13 Pa). Besides strut size, stent design played a dominant role in 3D. The highest percentage area adverse TAWSS (<0.5 Pa) and OSI (>0.2) were found for Fantom (56% and 30%) and Absorb (53% and 33%), followed by Fantom Encore (30% and 25%) and Magmaris (25% and 20%). Magmaris had the smallest areas due to a small footprint and rounded struts., Conclusions: Due to stent design, both Fantom Encore and Magmaris showed smaller TAWSS and OSI than Fantom and Absorb. This study quantifies which scaffold features are most important to reduce long-term restenosis.

Background: Patients with a low post PCI fractional flow reserve (FFR) are at increased risk for future adverse cardiac events. The aim of the present study was to assess the impact of specific intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) findings in patients with a low post percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) FFR on long-term clinical outcome., Methods: In a subgroup analysis, 100 vessels with an FFR value ≤0.85 underwent post PCI IVUS to further assess the potential determinants for low post PCI FFR. No further action was taken to improve post PCI FFR. The primary endpoint of this study was the event free survival of target vessel failure (TVF) at two years in patients with a post PCI FFR ≤0.85, which was defined as a composite of cardiac death, target vessel myocardial infarction or target vessel revascularization., Results: In patients with a post PCI FFR ≤0.85, TVF free survival rates were 88.5% vs. 95.5% for patients with versus without residual proximal lesions and 88.2% vs. 95.5% for patients with versus without residual distal lesions respectively (HR = 2.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.52-12.25, p = .25 and HR = 2.60, 95% CI 0.54-12.59, p = .24 respectively). TVF free survival was 92.8% vs. 93.5% in patients with versus without stent underexpansion >20% (HR = 1.01, 95% CI 0.21-4.88, p = .99) and 89.3% vs. 97.8% in patients with versus without any residual focal lesion including lumen compromising hematoma (HR = 4.64, 95% CI 0.55-39.22, p = .18)., Conclusion: Numerically higher TVF rates were observed in patients with a post PCI FFR ≤0.85 and clear focal residual disease as assessed with IVUS., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest LvZ received institutional research support from ACIST medical Inc. TN received institutional research support from ACIST medical Inc. JD reports to have received institutional research support from Pie Medical, ACIST Medical Inc., PulseCath, Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Abbott Vascular and speaker and consultancy fees from PulseCath, Medtronic, ReCor Medical, Acist Medical Inc. All other co-authors have no relevant conflict of interests to declare., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Aims: Stent thrombosis (ST) is a rare but potentially fatal complication of coronary artery stenting. Little is known about the optimal treatment strategy at the time of an ST event. We aimed to identify the incidence and predictors of adverse cardiac events after treatment of a definite ST., Methods and Results: A total of 695 patients with definite ST were included between 1996 and 2017 in two academic medical centres. The primary endpoint was MACE, the composite of cardiac death, myocardial infarction (MI) and target vessel revascularisation (TVR). Mean age was 62.8±12.1 years and 76.3% were male. ST occurred at a median of 22 days (IQR 3-551 days); 50.8% were early and 49.2% were late/very late ST. At 60-month follow-up, the MACE rate was 43.7%, cardiac death 19.5%, MI 17.9%, TVR 24.8%, and repeat definite ST was 12.1% (10.5% in target vessel). Independent predictors of MACE were cardiogenic shock (HR 2.54, 95% CI: 1.75-3.70; p<0.001), ST in the LAD (HR 1.76, 95% CI: 1.32-2.35; p<0.001), prior CVA/TIA (HR 1.68, 95% CI: 1.08-2.62; p=0.020), peripheral vascular disease (HR 1.55, 95% CI: 1.00-2.39; p=0.046), multivessel disease (HR 1.53, 95% CI: 1.12-2.08; p=0.007), and final TIMI flow 2-3 (HR 0.54, 95% CI: 0.34-0.85; p=0.009). No specific treatment of ST influenced MACE; however, new-generation P2Y12 inhibitors reduced the risk of MI (HR 0.56, 95% CI: 0.32-0.99; p=0.049)., Conclusions: The incidence of adverse events remains high after a first episode of ST. New-generation P2Y12 inhibitors reduce the risk of MI. Additional stenting, GP IIb/IIIa inhibitors and thrombectomy did not improve outcomes following ST.

The optimal revascularization strategy for residual coronary stenosis following primary percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and multivessel disease (MVD) remains controversial. This is a retrospective single-centre study including patients with STEMI and MVD. Based on the revascularization strategy, 3 groups were identified: (1) culprit only (CO), (2) ad hoc multivessel revascularization (MVR), and (3) staged MVR. Clinical outcomes were compared in terms of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), a composite of cardiac death, any myocardial infarction, and any unplanned revascularization at a long-term follow-up. A total of 958 patients were evaluated, 489 in the CO, 254 in the ad hoc, and 215 in the staged group. In the staged group, 65.6% of the patients received planned percutaneous coronary intervention, 9.7% coronary artery bypass grafting, 8.4% no further intervention after lesion reassessment, and in 16.3% an event occurred before the planned procedure. At 1,095 days, MACE was 36.1%, 16.7%, and 31% for CO, ad hoc, and staged groups, respectively. A MVR strategy was associated with lower rate of all-cause death compared with CO (HR 0.50; 95%CI [0.31 to 0.80]; p = 0.004). Complete revascularization reduced the rate of MACE (HR 0.30 [0.21 to 0.43] p < 0.001) compared with incomplete revascularization. Ad hoc MVR had lower rate of MACE compared with staged MVR (HR 0.61 [0.39 to 0.96] p = 0.032) mainly driven by less unplanned revascularizations. In conclusion, in patients with STEMI and MVD, complete revascularization reduced the risk of MACE. Ad hoc MVR appeared a reasonable strategy with lower contrast and stent usage and costs., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective and Background: The study aim is to provide long-term clinical outcome after percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for unprotected left main coronary arteries (ULMCA) stenosis with the first-generation (1 st -gen) drug-eluting stents (DES) in comparison to 2 nd -gen DES, since this is largely unknown., Methods: Between May 2002, and December 2014, a consecutive series of 656 all-comer patients underwent a PCI for ULMCA stenosis at the Erasmus Medical Center. A total of 235 patients were treated with 1 st -gen DES, while a total of 421 patients were treated with 2 nd -gen DES., Results: Overall, the population consisted of 73% males and 58% presented with an acute coronary syndrome. Median follow-up time was 1,361 days (range from 0 to 5,031). At 5 years, the cumulative incidence of major adverse clinical events (the primary composite endpoint of all-cause death, any myocardial infarction or target lesion revascularization; MACE) did not differ between 1 st - and 2 nd -gen DES (36.8 vs. 38.6%, respectively, Log Rank p = .79, adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.28 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94-1.74]). No difference was found in the individual endpoints of all-cause mortality (29.5 vs. 29% respectively, p = .88, adjusted HR = 1.19 [95% CI, 0.84-1.68]), target vessel myocardial infarction (5.0 vs. 8.4%, p = 0.17, adjusted HR = 1.75 [95% CI, 0.78-3.96]) and target lesion revascularization (8.1 vs. 9.8%, p = .94, adjusted HR = 1.16 [95% CI, 0.59-2.29]) between the 1 st - and 2 nd -gen DES cohorts, respectively., Conclusions: In this large cohort of consecutive patients treated for ULMCA stenosis, no significant differences were found in the safety and efficacy of 1 st versus 2 nd -gen DES at 5 years follow-up., (© 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objectives: To assess the performance of the commercially available Magmaris sirolimus-eluting bioresorbable scaffold (BRS) with invasive imaging at different time points., Background: Coronary BRS with a magnesium backbone have been recently studied as an alternative to polymeric scaffolds, providing enhanced vessel support and a faster resorption rate. We aimed to assess the performance of the commercially available Magmaris sirolimus-eluting BRS at different time points., Methods: A prospective, single-center, nonrandomized study was performed at the Thoraxcenter, Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Six patients with stable de novo coronary artery lesions underwent single-vessel revascularization with the Magmaris sirolimus-eluting BRS. Invasive follow-up including intravascular imaging using optical coherence tomography (OCT) was performed at different time points., Results: At a median of 8 months (range 4-12 months) target lesion failure occurred in one patient. Angiography revealed a late lumen loss of 0.59 ± 0.39 mm, a percentage diameter stenosis of 39.65 ± 15.81%, and a binary restenosis rate of 33.3%. OCT showed a significant reduction in both minimal lumen area (MLA) and scaffold area at the site of the MLA by 43.44 ± 28.62 and 38.20 ± 25.74%, respectively. A fast and heterogeneous scaffold degradation process was found with a significant reduction of patent struts at 4-5 months., Conclusions: Our findings show that the latest iteration of magnesium BRS suffers from premature dismantling, resulting in a higher than expected decrease in MLA., (© 2019 The Authors. Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Post percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) fractional flow reserve (FFR) is a significant predictor of major adverse cardiac events (MACE). The rationale for low post procedural FFR values often remains elusive based on angiographic findings alone, warranting further assessment using an FFR pullback or additional intravascular imaging. It is currently unknown if additional interventions intended to improve the PCI, decrease MACE rates., Study Design: The FFR REACT trial is a prospective, single-center randomized controlled trial in which 290 patients with a post PCI FFR <0.90 will be randomized (1:1) to either standard of care (no additional intervention) or intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)-directed optimization of the FFR (treatment arm). Eligible patients are those treated with angiographically successful PCI for (un)stable angina or non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (MI). Assuming 45% of patients will have a post PCI FFR <0.90, approximately 640 patients undergoing PCI will need to be enrolled. Patients with a post PCI FFR ≥ 0.90 will be enrolled in a prospective registry. The primary end point is defined as a composite of cardiac death, target vessel MI and clinically driven target vessel revascularisation (target vessel failure) at 1 year. Secondary end points will consist of individual components of the primary end point, procedural success, stent thrombosis and correlations on clinical outcome, changes in post PCI Pd/Pa and FFR and IVUS derived dimensions. All patients will be followed for 3 years., Conclusion: The FFR-REACT trial is designed to explore the potential benefit of HD-IVUS-guided PCI optimization in patients with a post PCI FFR <0.90 (Dutch trial register: NTR6711)., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Angiographic assessment of left main coronary artery (LMCA) lesions remains challenging and limited data is available on reference diameters and length of nonobstructive LMCA dimensions. Our aim was to provide insights in the dimensions of nonobstructive LMCA and to find a possible correlation with gender and patient habitus., Methods: This retrospective single center study was performed in a consecutive cohort of patients who underwent Intravascular Ultrasound (IVUS) guided percutaneous coronary interventions of the left coronary system including complete pullbacks of a non-obstructive LMCA (n = 254)., Results: Mean LMCA length as measured with IVUS was 7.37 ± 4.2 mm and mean lumen area (LA) was 15.63 ± 4.76 mm 2 corresponding to a mean lumen diameter (LD) of 4.41 ± 0.67 mm. An IVUS derived mean LD of >4 mm was present in 71.7%, >4.5 mm in 43% and > 5 mm in 19% of patients. LMCA mean LA was significantly smaller in women as compared to men (14.1 ± 4.1 mm 2 and 16.2 ± 4.8 mm 2 , P < 0.01). Multivariable analysis identified weight of the patient as the sole significant predictor for LMCA length while height of the patient and LMCA length were predictors of LMCA mean LA. Correlation coefficients of determination for all independent predictors were low (R 2 < 0.1 for all)., Conclusion: This study demonstrated that the mean LD of a non-obstructive LMCA is 4 mm or greater in the majority of patients, with a mean LMCA length of 7.4 mm. Women have smaller luminal dimension than men. No clinically relevant predictors were found for both LMCA length and mean LA., (© 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Fractional flow reserve (FFR) after percutaneous coronary intervention is a predictor of adverse cardiovascular events during follow-up. However, the rationale for low post procedural FFR values remains often elusive based on angiographic findings alone., Methods and Results: FFR SEARCH (Stent Evaluated at Rotterdam Cardiology Hospital) is a prospective single-center registry in which post-percutaneous coronary intervention FFR was assessed in 1000 consecutive all-comer patients. FFR measurements were performed with a microcatheter ±20 mm distal to the most distal stent edge. In 100 vessels with a post procedural FFR ≤0.85, and 20 vessels >0.85 high definition intravascular ultrasound analysis was performed. In 100 vessels with a post-percutaneous coronary intervention FFR ≤0.85, mean post procedural FFR was 0.79±0.05. Minimal lumen area was 2.19 (1.81-3.19) mm 2 , mean lumen area was 5.95 (5.01-7.03) mm 2 , and minimal stent area was 4.01 (3.09-5.21) mm 2 . Significant residual focal proximal lesions were found in 29% of the assessed vessels whereas, focal distal lesions were found in 30% of the vessels. Stent underexpansion and malapposition were found in 74% and 22% of vessels, respectively. Clear focal signs of luminal narrowing were found in 54% of the vessels analyzed. Although incidences of focal lesions, underexpansion, and malapposition were similar between both cohorts, minimal stent area was significantly smaller in vessels with a post-percutaneous coronary intervention FFR ≤0.85 as compared with those with an FFR >0.85., Conclusions: In patients with a post procedural FFR ≤0.85, intravascular ultrasound revealed focal signs of luminal narrowing in a significant number of cases.