Using imaging to guide treatment of partial heart artery blockages

After a heart attack, patients often have multiple narrowings in their heart arteries. This trial compares two different approaches to decide which partial blockages need treatment: one uses special imaging called optical coherence tomography (OCT) to look at the plaque inside the artery and identify risky plaques, while the other uses a functional test (FFR) that measures blood flow. The goal is to see which approach leads to better outcomes.

When patients have partial blockages that are not causing the heart attack, doctors are unsure whether treating these blockages prevents future heart attacks and deaths. Current guidelines suggest using flow-based testing, but recent evidence suggests that looking directly at plaque characteristics with imaging might identify which patients truly need treatment.