Histopathologic Characteristics of Atherosclerotic Coronary Disease and Implications of the Findings for the Invasive and Noninvasive Detection of Vulnerable Plaques

The goal of this study was to identify histomorphologic characteristics of atherosclerotic plaques and to determine the amenability of some of these components to be used as markers for invasive and noninvasive imaging.Rupture of the atherosclerotic plaques is responsible for the majority of acute coronary events, and the culprit lesions demonstrate distinct histopathologic features. It has been tacitly believed that plaque rupture (PR) is...