Background: The impact of intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) utilization for stent optimization on the long-term outcomes in chronic total occlusion (CTO) percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has received limited study.
Methods: We examined the outcomes of CTO-PCI with and without IVUS use for stent optimization in 922 CTO-PCIs performed between 2012 and 2019 at 12 United States centers. Major adverse cardiac event (MACE) was defined as the composite of cardiac death, acute coronary syndrome, and target-vessel revascularization.
Results: IVUS was used in 344 procedures (37%) for stent optimization. Mean patient age was 65 ± 10 years and 83% were men. Patients in the IVUS group were less likely to have a prior myocardial infarction (39% vs 50%; P<.01), more likely to undergo right coronary artery CTO-PCI (49% vs 55%; P=.01), and had higher mean J-CTO score (2.6 ± 1.1 vs 2.4 ± 1.2; P=.04). The final crossing strategy in patients in the IVUS group was less likely to be antegrade wire escalation (54% vs 57%) and more likely to be retrograde (29% vs 21%; P<.01). Median follow-up was 141 days (interquartile range, 30-365 days). The incidence of 12-month MACE was similar in the IVUS and no-IVUS groups (20.3% vs 18.3%; log-rank P=.67).
Conclusion: IVUS was used for stent optimization in approximately one-third of CTO-PCIs. Despite higher lesion complexity in the IVUS group, the incidence of MACE was similar during follow-up.
Keywords: CTO; IVUS; stent optimization.