ABSTRACT
Bioresorbable vascular scaffolds (BRSs) represent a new treatment for coronary artery disease. The high resolution of intracoronary Optical coherence tomography (OCT) proffers advantages for the assessment of atherosclerotic plaque. OCT can reliably assess luminal dimensions accurately and provide quantitative indices of stent expansion in order to evaluate procedural outcomes. OCT can generate a clear and complete assessment of long coronary artery segments within a few seconds and allow for easier image interpretation compared with angiography. OCT demonstrated consistently high accuracy and reproducibility for the assessment of coronary stents and scaffolds, irrespective of the analysis method or software used. The major concern in inadequate scaffold expansion and incomplete strut apposition is that it can cause nonlaminar and turbulent blood flow that can trigger platelet activation, thrombosis, or restenosis. Improvement in clinical and angiographic outcomes with intracoronary imaging guided percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) was first shown in the use of Grayscale intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in the implantation of drug eluting stents (DESs).
