ABSTRACT
Acute myocardial infarction is the leading cause of death in the United States and industrialized countries. Intracoronary optical coherence tomography has been developed to both identify and study the lesions due to its distinct resolution advantage over other imaging modalities. Research investigating the biomechanical properties of atherosclerotic plaques has shown that the presence of cholesterol crystals increases the stiffness of lipid pools, and as a result, may decrease the likelihood of plaque rupture. Histopathologic validation of qualitative and quantitative image criteria ex vivo provided a foundation for interpreting data obtained from living human patients. Balloon occlusion with saline purging, such as is commonly employed during angioscopy, remains a viable option for certain interventional communities. Strategies such as reducing the scattering of blood by administering an index matching fluid or administration of a transparent oxygen-carrying blood substitute have been proposed to reduce the blood-attenuation problem.
