Cardiology doctors Mathikere – BELCardiologist in Doddaballapur Road, Bangalore • Intravascular ultrasound Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) enables the production of cross-sectional ultrasound images of the coronary arteries . A fine ultrasound transducer is advanced into the coronary via a conventional cardiac catheter placed in the ostium. As the wire is withdrawn, images of the artery wall are recorded. This investigation has given much useful information about the nature of coronary plaques and how they differ in regard to their contents and structure. A more accurate measurement of the severity of lesions is possible. At conventional angiography the severity of a lesion is judged by comparing it with adjacent, apparently normal vessels. When these apparently normal areas are inspected with ultrasound, many are found to be quite abnormal. Areas that had been apparently successfully dilated by balloon angioplasty with a good angiographic result may appear quite severely narrowed when examined by IVUS. The struts of an implanted stent may be seen to be poorly opposed to the intima. This may explain some of the problems with restenosis and thrombosis after angioplasty. IVUS is unlikely to become a routine investigation because it remains expensive and time-consuming.