Can Optical Coherence Tomography Findings Be Used as Surrogates for Vessel Healing After Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation?
Drug-eluting stents (DES) inhibit neointimal proliferation and reduce the rates of subsequent target lesion revascularization as compared with bare-metal stents in randomized clinical trials.1,2 However, too much inhibition of neointimal hyperplasia might cause delayed vascular healing with incomplete endothelialization, which has been associated with an increase risk of stent thrombosis.3,4 Therefore, accurate assessment of the neointimal coverage in DES may be critical in prognosticating their safety. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) uses near-infrared light and generate crosssectional images by measuring the echo time delay and intensity of light that is reflected or back-scattered from the tissue. The ...
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