Intravascular Ultrasound Validation of Contemporary Angiographic Scores Evaluating the Severity of Calcification in Peripheral Arteries

PURPOSE: To validate 3 angiographic scoring systems for peripheral artery calcification using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) as the gold standard. METHODS: system. Calcium location on IVUS was classified as superficial, deep, or mixed. Lesion length was the segment between the most normal looking proximal and distal reference sites. Superficial, deep, and calcium length were based on motorized IVUS pullback. RESULTS: scoring systems. CONCLUSION: calcium scoring systems can be used to classify the degree of calcium in peripheral artery disease, especially superficial calcium.