Coronary Artery Dimensions as Determined by Intravascular Ultrasound in an Indian Population

Murtala A.Ngabea^1,2, S. Thanu¹

Keywords: Dimensions of coronary arteries, South India, intravascular ultrasound, determinantsof coronary artery size

DOI: 10.63475/yjm.v4i2.0159

DOI URL: https://doi.org/10.63475/yjm.v4i2.0159

Publish Date: 22-09-2025

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Pages: 412 - 421

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Downloads: 1

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Author Affiliation:

1 Consultant, Cardiology Unit, Meditrina Hospital, Kollam, Kerala, India
2 Consultant, Department of Medicine, Maitama District Hospital, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) has remained one of the greatest treatment modalities of the spectrum of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease over the past few years due to its high efficacy and minimal invasiveness. The most common cause of stent failure is stenting under-expansion, which complicates PCI. Thus, it is tremendously important to perform PCI relying on the precise measurement of the size of the coronary artery obtained with the help of intracoronary imaging. There is limited data on the size of coronary arteries as measured by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) in India and specifically in southern India. This study, conducted between January 2022 and March 2023, aimed to estimate the coronary artery dimensions, which can serve as a guide to PCI when intracoronary imaging is not available

Methods: A sample size of 165 patients with proven coronary artery disease undergoing IVUSguided PCI during acute or chronic coronary syndrome were recruited, and coronary arterydimensions were measured in this research work. The mean arterial size and predictors of the arteries were reviewed.

Results: A total of 165 patients with 590 coronary artery segments were recruited: the mean left main (LM), external elastic membrane (EEM) diameter, and cross-sectional area (CSA) were 4.92 ± 0.41 mm and 17.83 ± 2.88 mm2 proximal left anterior descending (LAD) artery, 3.75 ± 0.32 mm and 13.74 ± 2.45 mm2 the mid-LAD 3.42 + 0.28 mm and 10.65 + 2.08 mm2 the distal LAD 2.94 + 0.31 mm and 7.98 + 2.07 mm2 the proximal left circumflex artery (LCX) 3.62 ± 0.32 mm and 11.67 ± 2.36mm2, the distal LCX 2.91 ± 0. 33 mm and 8.98 ± 2.22mm2 the proximal right coronary artery (RCA) 4.17 ± 0.41 mm and 14.82 ± 2.78 mm2 the mid-RCA 3.85 ± 0.36 mm and 12.94 ± 2.44 mm2, the distal RCA 3.43 ± 0.30 mm and 11.08 ± 2.05 mm2, respectively. The predictor of most epicardial coronary arteries is body surface area (BSA) with positive linear correlation.

Conclusions: Measurements of the coronary arteries obtained were comparable to the previous data on coronary artery size of Southeast Asia and Caucasian populations using IVUS. BSA is an independent predictor for the majority of epicardial coronary arteries with a positive linear relationship. Male gender and hypertension also positively correlate with larger coronary artery dimensions, while dyslipidemia leads to smaller coronary artery sizes. Neither diabetes nor smoking influences coronary artery size in the current study. Finally, the quantification of the size of the coronary artery will help the clinician to have a reference dimension in instances where there is no intravascular imaging available.

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