Intravascular ultrasound imaging of peripheral arteries as an adjunct to atherectomy: preliminary experience

12 atherosclerotic lesions in nine patients, including four restenoses after balloon angioplasty, were treated by atherectomy under the guidance of intravascular ultrasound (US). Echogenicities of the plaques and morphological alterations in the arterial walls produced by atherectomy were evaluated. The two-layered appearance of post-angioplasty restenoses was found to be inner fibrous intimal thickening with proliferation of smooth muscle cells and outer residual collagen-rich plaque. The deep cut surfaces were shown as concave U-shaped defects. Medial tissues were present in all cases where intravascular US demonstrated the disruption of a thin hyperechoic layer of the internal elastic lamina. Intravascular US imaging may provide valuable information on the degree, eccentricity and histological type of stenosis, the presence of calcification before atherectomy, and on the extent of excision and the morphological changes in the arterial wall after atherectomy.