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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
A Method to Study the Correlation Between Local Collagen Structure and Mechanical Properties of Atherosclerotic Plaque Fibrous Tissue
Published on: November 11, 2022
Relationship between thin cap fibroatheroma identified by virtual histology and angioscopic yellow plaque in
Masanori Yamamoto1, Masamichi Takano, Kentaro Okamatsu
1Department of Internal Medicine, Chiba-Hokusoh Hospital, Nippon Medical School, Chiba, Japan.
Background:
Thin cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) is considered to be a vulnerable plaque. Virtual Histology-intravascular ultrasound (VH-IVUS) can precisely identify TCFA in vivo. Intense yellow plaque on angioscopy determined by quantitative colorimetry with L a b color space corresponds with histological TCFA; in particular, a plaque of color b value >23 indicates an atheroma with a fibrous cap thickness <100 mum. In the present study, the relationship between VH-TCFA and angioscopic plaque color determined by colorimetry was investigated.
Methods And Results:
Fifty-seven culprit plaques in 57 patients were evaluated by VH-IVUS and angioscopy. VH-TCFA was defined as a plaque with a necrotic core >10% of plaque area without overlying fibrous tissue, and angioscopic TCFA was a plaque with b value >23. The frequency of angioscopic TCFA was higher in the VH-TCFA group than in the VH-non-TCFA group (74% vs 23%, P=0.0002). Moreover, yellow color intensity (b value) significantly correlated with plaque classification on VH-IVUS. When TCFA detected with angioscopy was used as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy for TCFA with VH-IVUS was 68%, 81%, and 75%, respectively.
Conclusions:
VH-TCFA strongly correlated with angioscopic TCFA determined by a quantitative analysis with colorimetry.
