Multimodality intracoronary imaging in spontaneous coronary artery dissection: Impacts of intravascular ultrasound, optical coherence tomography, and coronary angioscopy

Abstract

Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a rare cause of acute coronary syndrome and its etiology and pathogenesis have not been well understood. Intracoronary imaging modalities with intravascular ultrasound and optical coherence tomography would enable a precise diagnosis in this entity. Coronary angioscopy is also a unique tool for allowing direct visualization of the luminal surface of a vessel. We described an interesting case of SCAD documented with multimodality intracoronary imaging showing the presence of superficial lipid plaque nearby the coronary dissection entry point, which might have been associated with fragility of the arterial wall and the subsequent development of SCAD. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.