P laque rupture and thrombus formation play a key role in the pathogenesis of acute coronary syndrome (ACS). 1 Moreover, in this clinical setting, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) can be hampered by distal embolization of plaque debris and thrombus components, the main determinants of the no-reflow phenomenon.2 The introduction ofBackground-Clinical consequences of optical coherence tomographic (OCT) high-definition visualization of plaque/ stent structures in acute patients remain undefined. In this retrospective substudy, we assessed the prognostic impact of postprocedural culprit lesion OCT findings in patients with acute coronary syndrome undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention.
Methods and Results-In the CLI-OPCI (Centro per la Lotta Contro L'Infarto-Optimization of Percutaneous CoronaryIntervention) database collecting cases from 5 independent OCT-experienced centers, we retrospectively analyzed postprocedural OCT findings in acute coronary syndrome patients and explored its possible impact (specifically that of residual intrastent plaque/thrombus protrusion) on outcome. (HR, 8.50; P<0.001) stent edges. Postprocedural OCT assessment of treated culprit lesion revealed at least one of these parameters in 55.2% of cases, with an associated increased risk of device-oriented cardiovascular events during follow-up (17.9% versus 4.8%; P<0.001). Both the presence of at least one of these parameters (HR, 3.69; P=0.002) and the residual intrastent plaque/thrombus protrusion (HR, 2.83; P=0.008) were confirmed as independent predictors of device-oriented cardiovascular events. Conclusions-In this retrospective study of acute coronary syndrome patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention, a composite of OCT-defined suboptimal stent implantation characteristics at the culprit lesion and residual intrastent plaque/thrombus protrusion was associated with adverse outcome. (Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2016;9:e003726.