Impact of the acute results on the long-term outcome after the treatment of in-stent restenosis: a serial intravascular ultrasound study.

The current study used serial (postintervention and follow-up) intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) to assess the impact of acute results on long-term follow-up of patients with in-stent restenosis (ISR). All patients (n = 180) with serial IVUS studies of ISR lesions from the following gamma-irradiation brachytherapy trials were included: Washington Radiation for In-Stent Restenosis Trial (WRIST), Gamma-1, and Angiorad Radiation Technology for In-Stent Restenosis Trial in Native Coronaries (ARTISTIC). There were 106 irradiated and 74 placebo patients. Quantitative analysis was performed according to the American College of Cardiology Clinical Expert Consensus Document on Standards for Acquisition, Measurement and Reporting of IVUS. Images were acquired using motorized transducer pullback, cross-sectional analysis was performed every 1 mm, and volumetric and mean planar dimensions were calculated. The independent predictors for the absolute follow-up minimum lumen area (MLA) were the postintervention MLA, the postintervention minimum stent area, and the use of brachytherapy. Placebo patients lost 45% of the postintervention MLA while irradiated patients lost only 17% of the MLA. The independent predictors of the follow-up percent intimal hyperplasia (intimal hyperplasia volume divided by stent volume) and the independent predictors of the absolute increase in intimal hyperplasia were the postintervention percent intimal hyperplasia and the use of brachytherapy. Serial IVUS analysis shows that the follow-up MLA and percent intimal hyperplasia are dependent on the results obtained during the treatment of ISR lesions. Copyright 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc.