In vivo assessment of vasa vasorum neovascularization using intravascular ultrasound: A comparison between acute coronary syndrome and stable angina pectoris

Abstract

VV neovascularization of coronary arteries was more enhanced in patients with ACS than in those with SAP, supporting its relation to plaque vulnerability. VV detected by widely used IVUS could be an adequate surrogate marker for plaque vulnerability in vivo.

Gray-scale intravascular ultrasound sheds light on the importance of vasa vasorum in unstable coronary plaque

“…Recently, imaging of the vasa vasorum in the clinical setting has been receiving considerable attention. In this study, Kume et al [4] demonstrated the potential of gray-scale IVUS for detecting adventitial vasa vasorum in coronary arteries. As the result of this study shows, the gray-scale IVUS-detected vasa vasorum density might serve as a new surrogate marker for plaque vulnerability.…”

“…), plaque progression or regression, and clinical events. This study by Kume et al [4] will form a basis of those future researches with gray-scale IVUS for investigating the role of vasa vasorum in coronary atherosclerosis.…”

“…In this issue of the Journal of Cardiology, Kume et al [4] report the impact of vasa vasorum on coronary atherosclerosis by using a commercially available 40-MHz intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). Gray-scale IVUS clearly detected adventitial vasa vasorum with diameter of several hundred micrometers as a tubular, low-echoic structure at the outer side of a coronary plaque [5].…”

Viewpoint: Recent Advances in Intracoronary Imaging for Vasa Vasorum Visualisation

“…Based on their histological validation study, Kume et al demonstrated with a commercially-available IVUS that the prevalence of the VV at the proximal and distal reference segments adjacent to culprit lesions was significantly increased in patients with acute coronary syndrome compared with those with stable angina pectoris. 12,14 Using commercially-available echogenic microbubbles composed of albumin microspheres filled with octafluoropropane gas, Vavuranakis et al demonstrated the feasibility of the IVUS contrast-enhancement detection techniques for the VV in both the adventitia and the plaque of human coronary arteries in vivo. 15…”

Super-resolution ultrasound imaging method for microvasculature in vivo with a high temporal accuracy

“…However, the lack of adequate noninvasive and high-resolution imaging technology to visualize VV is a big challenge. Micro-CT, optical coherent tomography (OCT), intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) angiography and contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEU) imaging have been demonstrated to image VV in pre-clinical studies, but these technologies have suffered from hazardous radiation (micro-CT), poor imaging depth (OCT), invasive approach (IVUS) and insufficient spatial resolution (CEU) 5 , 6 , 11 – 16 .…”