A comparison between plaque-based and vessel-based measurement for plaque component using volumetric intravascular ultrasound radiofrequency data analysis

Although percent plaque components on plaque-based measurement have been used traditionally in previous studies, the impact of vessel-based measurement for percent plaque components have yet to be studied. The purpose of this study was therefore to correlate percent plaque components derived by plaque- and vessel-based measurement using intravascular ultrasound Virtual Histology (IVUS-VH). The patient cohort comprised of 206 patients with de novo coronary artery lesions who were imaged with IVUS-VH. Age ranged from 35 to 88 years old, and 124 patients were male. Whole pullback analysis was used to calculate plaque volume, vessel volume, and absolute and percent volumes of fibrous, fibrofatty, necrotic core, and dense calcium. The plaque and vessel volumes were well correlated (r = 0.893, P < 0.001). There was a strong correlation between percent plaque components volumes calculated by plaque and those calculated by vessel volumes (fibrous; r = 0.927, P < 0.001, fibrofatty; r = 0.972, P < 0.001, necrotic core; r = 0.964, P < 0.001, dense calcium; r = 0.980, P < 0.001,). Plaque and vessel volumes correlated well to the overall plaque burden. For percent plaque component volume, plaque-based measurement was also highly correlated with vessel-based measurement. Therefore, the percent plaque component volume calculated by vessel volume could be used instead of the conventional percent plaque component volume calculated by plaque volume.