Abstract

Objectives: To investigate the impact of arterial remodelling on long-term clinical outcome after stent implantation in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS).

Methods: 134 patients with ACS were enrolled. External elastic membrane (EEM) cross-sectional area (CSA) and lumen CSA were measured. Plaque and media CSA was calculated as EEM minus lumen CSA. Final minimal stent area (MSA) was also measured after stenting. Positive remodelling (PR) was defined as the ratio of the EEM CSA at the target lesion to that at the proximal reference of >1.05, and intermediate or negative remodelling (IR/NR) was defined as that of ⩽1.05.

Results: Although final MSA was similar, target lesion revascularisation (TLR) rates at 2 years were significantly higher in patients with PR (33.7%) than in those with IR/NR (13.7%; p = 0.01). In addition, non-TLR rates were also significantly higher in patients with PR (42.2%) than in those with IR/NR (23.5%; p = 0.03). Cardiac event-free survival (for events such as death, myocardial infarction, TLR and non-TLR) was significantly lower in patients with PR than in those with IR/NR (log rank, p = 0.001). By multivariate logistic regression analysis, PR (χ² 6.57, OR 2.70; 95% CI, 1.27 to 5.78; p = 0.01) and plaque rupture (χ² 4.17, OR 2.38; 95% CI, 1.04 to 5.45; p = 0.04) were independent predictors of cardiac events.

Conclusion: In patients with ACS, PR and intravascular ultrasound findings that may correspond with plaque rupture predict cardiac events including both TLR and non-TLR at 2 years.