Objectives Pre-interventional arterial remodeling is known as a predictor for the intimal hyperplasia after stenting, which is related inflammatory response. We thought plaque characterization would differ between two patterns of pre-interventional arterial remodeling, positive (PR) and negative remodeling (NR). Methods Forty three angina patients (33 men; 58.1짹11.5 years of age) were divided into the PR (n=13) or NR (n=30) group according to the pre-interventional arterial remodeling using virtual histology-IVUS. We compared plaque characterization and baseline inflammatory markers between two groups. Results The two groups were well balanced with respect to clinical and angiographic characteristics. The remodeling index (RI) was 1.08짹0.10 in the PR and 0.91짹0.06 in the NR group. Baseline inflammatory markers were not different between two groups (hs-CRP: 0.99짹1.37 in the PR vs. 0.77짹1.40 mg/dl in the NR, p=.644; NT pro-BNP: 239.8짹426.6 in the PR vs. 332.9짹632.1 pg/ml in the NR, p=.657). In plaque characterization, the volume of necrotic core (NC) or percent of NC volume were not different between two groups (p=.238 and p=.157, respectively). The percent of NC area, however, was significantly higher in PR than NR group (27.5짹10.5 vs. 20.4짹8.6 %, p=.025) at minimal luminal site. In addition, NC area also tended to be higher in the PR group (2.7짹2.2 vs. 1.7짹1.3 mm2, p=.068) at minimal luminal site. Otherwise, there were no significant differences in percent of the calcium area (5.8짹4.2 vs. 5.2짹6.7 %, p=.775), fibrous area (55.8짹9.3 vs. 62.2짹12.4 %, p=.104) and fibro-fatty area (11.0짹6.5 vs. 12.2짹7.1 %, p=.599) at minimal luminal site. The RI was not correlated with percent of NC or NC area (r=.207, p=.183 and r=.221, p=.154, respectively). Conclusions This study showed percent of NC and NC area at minimal luminal site were higher in the PR rather than NR group, which may translate into different vascular and inflammatory responses after stenting between two groups.