Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25499133›Full record

ArticleJACC. Cardiovascular imaging2015

Macrophages and intravascular OCT bright spots: a quantitative study.

Jennifer E Phipps, Deborah Vela, Taylor Hoyt, David L Halaney, J Jacob Mancuso, L Maximilian Buja, Reto Asmis, Thomas E Milner, Marc D Feldman

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in JACC. Cardiovascular imaging, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 49 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
49citing papers in PubMed
10.6field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

49 citing papers in PubMed, 99 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Trial
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Histology-Grounded Automated Plaque Subtype Segmentation in Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography.Journal of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions · 2025
    Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Residual risks and evolving atherosclerotic plaques.Molecular and cellular biochemistry · 2023
    Review
  16. Article
  17. Prevalence and patterns of in-stent neoatherosclerosis in lower extremity artery disease.EuroIntervention : journal of EuroPCR in collaboration with the Working Group on Interventional Cardiology of the European Society of Cardiology · 2023
    Article
  18. Review
  19. Review
  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Jennifer E PhippsUniversity of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
Deborah VelaTexas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas.
Taylor HoytUniversity of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
David L HalaneyUniversity of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas; Department of Veterans Affairs, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, Texas.
J Jacob MancusoUniversity of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
L Maximilian BujaTexas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas.
Reto AsmisUniversity of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas.
Thomas E MilnerUniversity of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas.
Marc D FeldmanUniversity of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas; Department of Veterans Affairs, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, Texas. Electronic address: feldmanm@uthscsa.edu.
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio · USThe University of Texas at Austin · US

Funding

PATHOBIOLOGY OF OCCLUSIVE VASCULAR DISEASET32HL007446 · NHLBI · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCIENCE CENTER · PI Jean Chrisostome Bopassa · 1985 to 2026
$8.9M
BLRD VA I01 BX000397NHLBI NIH HHS L30 HL120197NHLBI NIH HHS T32 HL007446
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesThis study hypothesized that bright spots in intravascular optical coherence tomography (IVOCT) images may originate by colocalization of plaque materials of differing indexes of refraction. To quantitatively identify bright spots, we developed an algorithm that accounts for factors including tissue depth, distance from light source, and signal-to-noise ratio. We used this algorithm to perform a bright spot analysis of IVOCT images and compared these results with histological examination of matching tissue sections.

backgroundBright spots are thought to represent macrophages in IVOCT images, and studies of alternative etiologies have not been reported.

methodsFresh human coronary arteries (n = 14 from 10 hearts) were imaged with IVOCT in a mock catheterization laboratory and then processed for histological analysis. The quantitative bright spot algorithm was applied to all images.

resultsResults are reported for 1,599 IVOCT images co-registered with histology. Macrophages alone were responsible for only 23% of the bright spot-positive regions, although they were present in 57% of bright spot-positive regions (as determined by histology). Additional etiologies for bright spots included cellular fibrous tissue (8%), interfaces between calcium and fibrous tissue (10%), calcium and lipids (5%), and fibrous cap and lipid pool (3%). Additionally, we showed that large pools of macrophages in CD68(+) histology sections corresponded to dark regions in comparative IVOCT images; this is due to the fact that a pool of lipid-rich macrophages will have the same index of refraction as a pool of lipid and thus will not cause bright spots.

conclusionsBright spots in IVOCT images were correlated with a variety of plaque components that cause sharp changes in the index of refraction. Algorithms that incorporate these correlations may be developed to improve the identification of some types of vulnerable plaque and allow standardization of IVOCT image interpretation.

Indexed as

Tomography, Optical CoherenceAlgorithmsCoronary VesselsHumansMacrophagesintravascular optical coherence tomographymacrophagesquantitative analysis bright spots

Identifiers

PMID25499133
PMCPMC4297553
OpenAlexW109021351

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.