The primary goal of physicians with patients presenting with an acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is to choose a treatment strategy that optimizes outcome for each individual patient. Physicians also increasingly…
High-quality, noninvasive coronary imaging requires high spatial resolution and a high acquisition speed because of the small size, tortuous course, and continuous motion of the coronary arteries. Computed tomography (CT)…
An acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is comprised of biomarker-positive ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), non–ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), and biomarker-negative unstable angina (UA; Fig. 13-1 ). The most common…
In medicine, as in all human communication, it is essential to define the entities being discussed clearly. The history of medicine is replete with examples of communication failure resulting from…
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) remains the leading cause of mortality in the world, with more than 15 million deaths each year. With the current rise in obesity and other cardiovascular risk…
Historical Perspective Angina pectoris literally translates as “strangling in the chest.” William Heberden presented one of the earliest descriptions of angina pectoris in 1768 in a lecture to the Royal…
The mature mammalian heart can be represented as a four-chamber blood-pumping organ consisting of contractile cardiomyocytes and supportive stromal cells surrounded by fibrous connective tissue. After a period of intense…
Role of Immune System in Atherogenesis Atherosclerosis is a complex, chronic inflammatory disease of the arterial wall. Its underlying pathophysiologic mechanisms involve endothelial dysfunction, infiltration of atherogenic lipoproteins into the…
Histologic observations have taught us much regarding the pathophysiology of the acute coronary syndromes. Pathoanatomic examination of atheromas that provoke fatal thrombosis reveals much about the mechanisms of this extreme…
Vascular lesions that resemble atherosclerosis have been described in Egyptian and Renaissance mummies, , but death and disabling symptoms caused by atherosclerosis were probably rare before the late 18th century…
