A glimpse of the future: optical coherence tomography in the real world

In vivo visualization of the coronary arteries is the most elegant way to confirm or refute any iatrogenic or patho-logical lesions and their association with any short- and long-term positive or negative results. At this present time, intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is the standard technique in imaging coronary plaque and plaque volume measurements. However, in this March 2007 issue of the Journal of Geriatric Cardiology, Lu et al. showed us the real world results of optical coherence tomography (OCT) with 1) more than 30% of vulnerable plaques ruptured in elderly patients with unstable angina (UA), 2) intraluminal thrombus in less than 27% patients on treatment, and 3) high tissue prolapse rate after stent implantation (73%).