Objectives: Percutaneous intracoronary angioscopy was used to study the morphologic changes occurring in coronary arteries after balloon or laser angioplasty.
Background: Angioscopy is thought to provide details of the coronary vessel lumen and the inner wall.
Methods: Coronary lesions were studied in 44 patients with a 4.5F Imagecath angioscope before and after each interventional procedure. Balloon and laser angioplasty were performed in 21 (group I) and 23 patients (group II), respectively. There was no difference in age, gender or angiographic lesion appearance before the procedure between the two groups.
Results: Circumferential visualization of the target lesion was successfully completed in 17 group I and 19 group II patients. A larger lumen than that observed at baseline was seen in all 17 group I and in 13 of the 19 group II patients. Tissue remnants were observed in all group I and II patients. Laser irradiation resulted in characteristic sharp-edged craters. Dissection was identified in 2 of 19 patients before versus 9 of 19 patients after balloon angioplasty (p < 0.05) and in 0 of 23 patients before versus 4 of 23 patients after laser angioplasty (p = NS). Subintimal hemorrhage was observed in 3 of 19 patients before versus 11 of 19 patients after balloon angioplasty (p < 0.05) and in 2 of 23 patients before versus 4 of 23 patients after laser angioplasty (p = NS). The frequency of hemorrhage was higher in group I than in group II (11 of 19 vs. 4 of 23, respectively, p < 0.02).
Conclusions: Angioscopy provides valuable information on lesion morphology after coronary interventions. Balloon dilation results in a high rate of dissection and subintimal hemorrhage. Laser angioplasty is able to ablate obstructing tissue and results in a lower rate of subintimal hemorrhage than balloon dilation.