TABLE 2.
Geometrical and morphological characteristics of the ruptured plaques in the native and stented segments.
| PR-NV group (n = 56) | PR-NA group (n = 24) | p-Value | |
| Lesion-level analysis | |||
| Geometrical characteristics | |||
| Lesion length (mm) | 16.3 ± 6.0 | 14.8 ± 11.1 | 0.532 |
| MLA (mm2) | 2.93 ± 2.03 | 2.00 ± 1.26 | 0.015 |
| Proximal reference area (mm2) | 9.21 ± 4.11 | 5.80 ± 2.99 | <0.001 |
| Distal reference area (mm2) | 7.78 ± 3.87 | 4.96 ± 2.11 | 0.001 |
| Area stenosis (%) | 66.4 ± 15.4 | 61.6 ± 18.1 | 0.227 |
| Upstream RG | 0.111 ± 0.069 | 0.105 ± 0.076 | 0.768 |
| Downstream RG | 0.112 ± 0.093 | 0.121 ± 0.117 | 0.715 |
| Morphological characteristics | |||
| TCFA phenotype (n, %) | 41 (73.2) | 14 (58.3) | 0.191 |
| ThCFA phenotype (n, %) | 13 (23.2) | 9 (37.5) | 0.406 |
| Minimal FCT (μm) | 49 ± 22 | 60 ± 38 | 0.222 |
| Mean FCT (μm) | 186 ± 65 | 232 ± 80 | 0.009 |
| Mean lipid arc (°) | 150.5 ± 49.4 | 167.3 ± 34.0 | 0.141 |
| Lipid length (mm) | 6.1 ± 5.3 | 7.8 ± 8.6 | 0.280 |
| Lipid index | 62.2 ± 49.1 | 97.4 ± 47.8 | 0.005 |
| Presence of calcific tissue (n, %) | 31 (55.4) | 5 (20.8) | 0.005 |
| Mean arc of calcific tissue (°) | 62.8 ± 31.0 | 79.2 ± 14.7 | 0.309 |
| Calcific index | 29.9 ± 34.1 | 10.0 ± 4.0 | 0.004 |
| Presence of macrophages (n, %) | 52 (92.9) | 21 (87.5) | 0.440 |
| Spotted macrophages (n, %) | 50 (89.3) | 20 (83.3) | 0.464 |
| Lined macrophages (n, %) | 48 (85.7) | 18 (75.0) | 0.251 |
| Lined macrophages index | 12.1 ± 11.1 | 26.6 ± 33.9 | 0.091 |
| Presence of cholesterol crystals (n, %) | 19 (34.5) | 8 (33.0) | 0.917 |
| Presence of microchannels (n, %) | 23 (41.4) | 3 (12.5) | 0.013 |
| Number of rupture sites | 1.1 ± 0.4 | 1.2 ± 0.4 | 0.473 |
| Length of plaque rupture (mm) | 2.4 ± 2.2 | 1.9 ± 2.0 | 0.359 |
| Depth of plaque rupture (mm) | 0.9 ± 0.5 | 0.6 ± 0.3 | 0.036 |
| Arc of rupture (°) | 58.7 ± 35.1 | 64.7 ± 31.5 | 0.476 |
| Rupture extent index | 0.8 ± 1.2 | 0.7 ± 0.6 | 0.544 |
| Presence of thrombus (n, %) | 43 (76.8) | 21 (87.5) | 0.275 |
| Thrombus score | 21.8 ± 18.3 | 21.5 ± 17.3 | 0.948 |
| Frame-level analysis | n = 2,307 | N = 903 | |
| Frames portraying TCFA (n, %) | 391 (16.9) | 121 (13.4) | 0.014 |
| Frames portraying ThCFA (n, %) | 458(19.9) | 344 (38.1) | <0.001 |
| Frames portraying calcific tissue (n, %) | 433 (18.8) | 20 (2.2) | <0.001 |
| Frames portraying macrophages (n, %) | 735 (31.9) | 222 (24.6) | <0.001 |
| Frames portraying spotted macrophages (n, %) | 440 (19.1) | 112 (12.4) | <0.001 |
| Frames portraying lined macrophages (n, %) | 411 (17.8) | 138 (15.3) | 0.087 |
| Frames portraying microchannels (n, %) | 84 (3.6) | 28 (3.1) | 0.453 |
| Frames portraying cholesterol crystals (n, %) | 40 (1.7) | 30 (3.3) | 0.006 |
| Frames portraying plaque rupture (n, %) | 334 (14.5) | 114 (12.6) | 0.173 |
| Frames portraying thrombus (n, %) | 576 (25.0) | 232 (25.7) | 0.671 |
Results are presented at a lesion- and frame-level. MLA, minimum lumen area; RG, radius gradient; TCFA, thin cap fibroatheroma; ThCFA, thick cap fibroatheroma; FCT, fibrous cap thickness. The values in bold type indicate that they are statistically significantly with p-value of <0.05.