Intracoronary imaging - an essential tool on the way to an individualized therapy of coronary artery disease?

Intracoronary imaging - an essential tool on the way to an individualized therapy of coronary artery disease? Since decades, coronary angiography is the standard method to assess coronary anatomy and guide percutaneous coronary intervention. However, coronary angiography is limited to the lumen and a resolution of 200 - 300 micrometers. Thus, anything beyond is not detectable. Intracoronary imaging methods by means of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and particularly optical coherence tomography (OCT), provide incremental effects on coronary diagnostics and therapeutic decisions. Plaque burden and -composition (lipid, fibrous, calcific tissue, intramural hematoma), small intraluminal structures (thrombus), and implanted stents are uniquely detectable by intracoronary imaging. The use of these techniques inevitably leads to improved precision in coronary diagnostics and optimization of stent implantation.