Efficacy of a new generation intracoronary optical coherence tomography imaging system with fast pullback

ObjectivesWe sought to investigate whether a novel, fast-pullback, high-frequency optical coherence tomography (HF-OCT) imaging system enables data acquisition with a reduced amount of contrast agents while retaining the same qualitative and quantitative lesion assessment to conventional OCT. BackgroundThe increased amount of administered contrast agents is a major concern when performing intracoronary OCT. MethodsThe present study is a single-center, prospective, observational study including 10 patients with stable coronary artery disease. A total of 28 individual coronary arteries were assessed by both fast-pullback HF-OCT and by conventional OCT. ResultsThe contrast volume used in each OCT run for the HF-OCT system was significantly lower than for the conventional OCT system (5.0 +/- 0.0 mL vs. 7.8 +/- 0.7 mL, respectively, with a mean difference of -2.84 [95% confidence interval [CI]: -3.10 to -2.58]). No significant difference was found in the median value of the clear image length between the two OCT systems (74 mm [interquartile range [IQR]; 63, 81], 74 mm [IQR; 71, 75], p = 0.89). Fast-pullback HF-OCT showed comparable measurements to conventional OCT, including minimum lumen area (3.27 +/- 1.53 mm(2) vs. 3.21 +/- 1.53 mm(2), p = 0.27), proximal reference area (7.03 +/- 2.28 mm(2) vs. 7.03 +/- 2.34 mm(2), p = 0.96), and distal reference area (5.93 +/- 1.96 mm(2) vs. 6.03 +/- 2.02 mm(2), p = 0.23). Qualitative OCT findings were comparable between the fast-pullback HF-OCT runs and conventional OCT with respect to identifying lipid-rich plaques, calcifications, layered plaques, macrophages, and cholesterol crystals. ConclusionWith the fast pullback function of a novel HF-OCT imaging system, we acquired OCT images using a significantly lower amount of contrast volume while retaining a comparable qualitative and quantitative lesion assessment to conventional OCT.