Fluffy Luminal Surface of the Non-Stenotic Culprit Coronary Artery in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome: An Angioscopic Study

Background: Approximately 15% of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) cases have no significant coronary stenosis. Mechanisms underlying the attacks are, however, unknown. Methods and Results: The clinical study had 254 patients with ACS; 38 patients (31 females and 7 males; aged 51.0±8.0 years) had no significant coronary stenosis on angiography. They underwent a dye-staining angioscopy of the suspected culprit coronary artery using Evans blue, which selectively stains fibrin and damaged endothelial cells. A fluffy coronary luminal surface was observed in the suspected culprit artery in all 38 patients. The fluffy luminal surface was stained blue with Evans blue. In animal experiments involving 5 beagles, 10% hydrogen peroxide solution was injected into the iliac arteries to damage endothelial cells, which was then followed by blood reperfusion, and then the artery was examined by intravascular microscopy and histology. In the beagles, the arterial segment, where the thrombus had been formed, exhibited a fluffy luminal surface after a washout of the thrombus, and the surface was stained blue. Histologically, the fluffy surfaces were composed of damaged endothelial cells attached by multiple fibrin threads and platelets. Conclusions: It was considered that the coronary segment exhibiting a fluffy luminal surface was the culprit lesion and that the fluffy surface was caused by residual thrombi after dispersion of an occlusive thrombus, which had formed on the damaged endothelial cells. (Circ J 2010; 74: 2379-2385)