Angiographic predictors of neointimal thickening after successful coronary wall healing following percutaneous revascularization

Abstract This study was undertaken to characterize, by intracoronary ultrasound technique, the neointimal thickening at follow-up of treated coronary segments after successful arterial wall repair and to compare the findings with serial angiographic studies. We selected for study 81 patients with single-vessel coronary disease successfully treated by percutaneous revascularization who were angiographically and ultrasonically reevaluated at a mean follow-up time of 22 ± 21 months; 23 had been treated by balloon angioplasty, 27 by directional atherectomy, and 31 by elective Palmaz-Schatz stent implantation. The late maximal neointimal thickness varied between 0.1 and 1.5 mm (mean 0.65 ± 0.31 mm), and the neointimal area ranged between 0.97 and 14.9 mm 2 (mean 5.19 ± 3.14 mm 2 ). The neointimal repair was thinner in patients who obtained a better acute angiographic result immediately after treatment and in stented (3.4 ± 1.8 mm 2 ) versus dilated (7.8 ± 4.1 mm 2 ) or resected (5 ± 1.6 mm 2 , p