Intravascular echographic assessment of vessel wall characteristics: a correlation with histology.

In vivo application of intravascular high frequency ultrasonic imaging for peripheral and coronary artery disease is a promising technique for vascular surgeons, radiologists and cardiologists. This report demonstrates in vitro results obtained with a high frequency imaging catheter (40 MHz) in 70 human specimens including arteries with and without atherosclerosis, veins, coronary artery bypass grafts and vascular prosthetic material. Correlation between the ultrasonic images and the histologic characteristics of the corresponding vessel wall tissue and lumen geometry was established. In addition, the effect of intervention techniques i.e. balloon angioplasty, spark erosion and laser were studied with ultrasound and histology. It is anticipated that development of such a catheter imaging technique has potential for diagnostic imaging and for combination with therapeutic systems.