[Utilization of intravascular ultrasound in coronary artery disease]

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) that found a significant place for itself in cardiac imaging area in recent years was able to penetrate into the field of use thanks to putting the ultrasound probe in the tip of catheter, which can navigate through the vein by miniaturizing it on a much smaller scale than we used to see. Various recent scientific studies showed IVUS is a valuable tool in assessing the natural course of coronary atherosclerosis and effects of different pharmacological and non-pharmacological approaches on the progression-regression of atherosclerosis. In addition, IVUS is also applied in studies evaluating the short- and long-term outcomes of different percutaneous coronary interventions including the implantation of drug-eluting stents.