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Figure 1 Prevalence of multiple coronary artery plaque ruptures detected by intravascular ultrasonography (IVUS) in five studies. Interrogation of coronary arteries of patients with acute coronary syndromes by IVUS reveals coincident ruptures of nonculprit lesions in 13% to 79% of cases. The differences in the prevalence of multiple plaque ruptures among studies may depend on technical issues (e.g., use of contrast), patient selection, timing of the investigation with relation to the index event, and other variables (8–12).