Intracoronary Imaging

[...]we summarise the key published literature underpinning current and potential future indications for the use of intracoronary imaging in interventional practice. [...]the adventitia and external elastic membrane (EEM) and internal elastic membrane (IEM), rich in collagen and elastin, appear highly echogenic (white or bright) while the media layer is echo lucent (black or dark); the scarce reflectivity of the media further enhances the external elastic lamina, at the interface between hypoechoic media and hyperechoic adventitia. [...]an ‘intra-stent’ dissection consists in the separation of the neointima from the stent struts.1–4 The higher OCT resolution improves the accuracy in the diagnosis of dissections, as confirmed by the Optical Coherence Tomography vs Intravascular Ultrasound (OCTIVUS) study, which showed a significantly lower yield for diagnosis of edge dissections with IVUS (percentage agreement among observers 34.3%) compared with OCT (58.2%, p