Impact of Coronary Plaque Characteristics on Late Stent Malapposition after Drug-Eluting Stent Implantation

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of pre-procedural coronary plaque composition assessed by virtual histology intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) on late stent malapposition assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) following drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 121 patients (121 lesions) who underwent both pre-procedural VH-IVUS and follow-up OCT after DES implantation. The association between pre-procedural plaque composition [necrotic core (NC), dense calcium (DC), fibrotic (FT), and fibro-fatty (FF) volumes] assessed by VH-IVUS and late stent malapposition (percent malapposed struts) or strut coverage (percent uncovered struts) assessed by follow-up OCT was evaluated. Results: Pre-procedural absolute total NC, DC, FT, and FF plaque volumes were 22.9 +/- 19.0, 7.9 +/- 9.6, 63.8 +/- 33.8, and 16.5 +/- 12.4 mm(3), respectively. At 6.3 +/- 3.1 months post-intervention, percent malapposed and uncovered struts were 0.8 +/- 2.5% and 15.3 +/- 16.7%, respectively. Pre-procedural absolute total NC and DC plaque volumes were positively correlated with percent malapposed struts (r=0.44, p<0.001 and r=0.45, p<0.001, respectively), while pre-procedural absolute total FT plaque volume was weakly associated with percent malapposed struts (r=0.220, p=0.015). Pre-procedural absolute total DC plaque volume was the only independent predictor of late stent malapposition on multivariate analysis (beta=1.12, p=0.002). There were no significant correlations between pre-intervention plaque composition and percent uncovered struts. Conclusion: Pre-procedural plaque composition was associated with late stent malapposition but not strut coverage after DES implantation. Larger pre-procedural absolute total DC plaque volumes were associated with greater late stent malapposition.