Identification of Predictors for Coronary Plaque Erosion in Patients With Acute Coronary Syndrome

Plaque erosion is reported to be responsible for about one third of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). In the EROSION study, we reported that antithrombotic therapy without stenting achieved a reduction in thrombus volume greater than 50% in over 70% of patients diagnosed with ACS caused by plaque erosion. This result suggests that the conservative approach of anti-thrombotic therapy without stenting may be an option for patients diagnosed with ACS caused by plaque erosion, which may be the paradigm shift in treatment of ACS patients. However, at present, the only way to make an in vivo diagnosis of plaque erosion is intra-coronary optical coherence tomography (OCT). If we can identify clinical factors associated with plaque erosion, we may be able to narrow down a sub-population of patients with a higher likelihood of plaque erosion. This group of patients may be stabilized with pharmacologic therapy and avoid invasive procedures, thereby preventing related complications and reducing health care burden. However, specific demographic characteristics of the ACS patients with plaque erosion are not known. Our group has the world's largest dataset of patients with plaque erosion and several published reports on plaque erosion. However, the study population of each study is still small and unbalanced to identify the demographic characteristics associated with plaque erosion. Therefore, we propose to pool data from a large number of institutions around the world. This will provide an opportunity to identify factors associated with plaque erosion.