Attenuated Plaque at Nonculprit Lesions in Patients Enrolled in Intravascular Ultrasound Atherosclerosis Progression Trials

Attenuated Plaque at Nonculprit Lesions in Patients Enrolled in Intravascular Ultrasound Atherosclerosis Progression Trials Ozgur Bayturan, E. Murat Tuzcu, Stephen J. Nicholls, Craig Balog, Andrea Lavoie, Kiyoko Uno, Timothy D. Crowe, William A. Magyar, Kathy Wolski, Samir Kapadia, Steven E. Nissen, Paul Schoenhagen This study was designed to evaluate the presence of attenuated plaque serially (baseline and 2-year follow-up) in 159 nonculprit coronary segments. Attenuated plaque was found in 17 of 159 patients (10.7%, 95% confidence interval: 6% to 17%). At baseline, there were no significant differences in clinical presentation and cardiovascular risk factors between patients with and without attenuation. During follow-up, attenuation remained stable, and no events occurred in the patients with attenuation. There was a relationship with mixed calcified lesions. These findings challenge the previous assumption that attenuated plaque is a finding limited to culprit lesions associated with acute clinical presentation.