Impact and trends of intravascular imaging in diagnostic coronary angiography and percutaneous coronary intervention in inpatients in the United States

Background Intravascular imaging with intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an important adjunct to invasive coronary angiography. Objectives Methods The primary objective was to examine the frequency of intravascular coronary imaging, trends in imaging use, and outcomes of patients undergoing angiography and/or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in the United States. Adult patients >= 18 years of age undergoing in-hospital cardiac catheterization from January 2004 to December 2014 were identified from the National Inpatient Sample (NIS). International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) diagnosis and procedure codes were used to identify IVUS and OCT use during diagnostic angiography and PCI. Results Conclusions Among 3,211,872 hospitalizations with coronary angiography, intracoronary imaging was performed in 88,775 cases (4.8% of PCI and 1.0% of diagnostic procedures), with IVUS in 98.9% and OCT in 1.1% of cases. Among patients undergoing PCI, the rate of intravascular coronary imaging increased from 2.1% in 2004-2005 to 6.6% in 2013-2014 (P < 0.001 for trend). Use of intravascular coronary imaging was associated with lower in-hospital mortality in patients undergoing PCI (adjusted OR 0.77; 95% CI 0.71-0.83). There was marked variability in intravascular imaging by hospital, with 63% and 13% of facilities using intravascular imaging in 15% of PCIs, respectively. In a large administrative database from the United States, intravascular imaging use was low, increased over time, and imaging was associated with reduced in-hospital mortality. Substantial variation in the frequency of intravascular imaging by hospital was observed. Additional investigation to determine clinical benefits of IVUS and OCT are warranted.