Coronary disease & ACSMeta-analysis
Intracoronary imaging plaque vulnerability characteristics predictors of adverse events: an updated meta-analysis of adjusted observational studies
- updated meta-analysis of adjusted observational studies
- systematic search of PubMed, Scopus and Google Scholar
- PRISMA guidelines
- random-effects or fixed-effects models depending on heterogeneity
- subgroup and sensitivity analyses
Authors' conclusion
Intracoronary imaging-derived plaque features are significantly associated with future cardiovascular events. Multiparametric models integrating compositional and morphological features apparently enhance risk stratification compared with single parameters.
Study context
- Population
- Patients with untreated coronary lesions assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) or intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) for plaque vulnerability featurespatients in 12 studies, 22,319 lesions
- Participants
- 8,453 patients
- Comparison
- prognostic impact of plaque vulnerability features assessed by OCT or IVUS
- Outcome
- study-defined MACE
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Hazard ratio (95% CI)
thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA)lower positive association among predictors
3.06(1.97–4.77)
plaque burdenhighest association among predictors
3.92(1.45–10.59)
Further pooled results
Imaging modality comparison
- IVUS-derived parameters (minimum lumen area and high-risk plaque definition) were superior to their OCT counterparts, whereas OCT better discriminated prognostic thin-cap fibroatheroma (TCFA)
Combined parameters
- The combination of minimum lumen area, TCFA and lipid arc yielded the strongest predictive performance for MACE risk
Original publication
Intracoronary imaging plaque vulnerability characteristics predictors of adverse events: an updated meta-analysis of adjusted observational studies. Heart. Published 26 March 2026. doi:10.1136/heartjnl-2025-327284
Summarised from the published abstract; every number is checked against it