Interv Akut Kardiol. 2022;21(3):132-138 | DOI: 10.36290/kar.2022.016

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) - method in retreat or rising star?

Martin Hudec^{1, 2}, Jan Kaňovský^{1, 2}, Ivona Kask¹, Kristýna Hlaváčová¹, Vojtěch Brázdil^{1, 2}, Petr Kala^{1, 2}

¹ Interní kardiologická klinika Fakultní nemocnice Brno

² Lékařská fakulta Masarykovy univerzity Brno

The development of interventional cardiology has been going on for more than 50 years. During this time, great progress has been made not only in the materials used, but also in intravascular imaging (IVI). IVI plays a key role in the identification of vulnerable plaques (VP). The methods established and used in common clinical practice are mainly optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). NIRS (near infrared spectroscopy) is a modern method based on spectral analysis that evaluates the chemical composition of an artery. It can be used in identification of VP, the prediction of periprocedural infarctions, evaluation of the effect of hypolipidemic therapy or sizing of the implanted stent. Using combination of these methods, we obtain a morphologic and chemical analysis of atherosclerotic plaques. In the future, it could provide complete information about the evaluated coronary system. This could be the basis for determining the vulnerability of individual plaques and thus optimizing the therapy.

Keywords: NIRS, near infrared spectroscopy, intracoronary imaging.

Received: March 15, 2022; Revised: April 17, 2022; Accepted: May 2, 2022; Prepublished online: May 2, 2022; Published: November 21, 2022  Show citation