Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has recently been developed as a high-resolution intravascular imaging modality, detecting small abnormal structures in the coronary lumen that could not be visualised by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). A 77-year-old man died with acute myelogenous leukemia. After he died, the coronary artery was imaged by OCT (ImageWire; LightLab Imaging, Westford, MA, USA) and IVUS (Atlantis SR Pro, 40 MHz; Boston Scientific, Natick, MA, USA). OCT clearly demonstrated a thin flat structure in the coronary lumen ( Figure 1A , Moving image 1 ) but not in the IVUS image. This unique structural feature was demonstrated in corresponding histological images ( Figure ...

Background: Frequency-domain optical coherence tomography (FD-OCT) is an intravascular imaging technique now available in the United States. However, the importance of level of training required for analysis using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and FD-OCT is unclear. The aim of this study was to evaluate inter- and intra-observer variability between expert and beginner analysts interpreting IVUS and FD-OCT images. Methods and results : Two independent expert analysts and two independent beginner analysts evaluated a total of 226±2 stent cross-sections with IVUS and 232±2 stent cross-sections with FD-OCT in 14 patients after stenting. Inter- and intra-observer variability for determining stent volume index ...