Feature Of The Week 8/4/13: MGH OCT Registry Reports on In Vivo OCT Studies of Plaque Erosion and Calcified Nodule In Acute Coronary Syndrome
Pathology studies reported that three most common causes of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) or sudden cardiac death are plaque rupture, plaque erosion and calcified nodules. The morphological and clinical characteristics of the underlying pathology of ACS, especially plaque erosion and calcified nodule, have never been well studied in vivo. Using optical coherence tomography, we found that plaque erosions are the substrate for ACS in 31% of patients and calcified nodules in 8% of patients, which are consistent with pathological findings. Erosions are more likely to cause non-ST-segment elevation ACS than ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. Compared to plaque rupture, plaque erosion ...
