Acute coronary events frequently result from atherosclerotic plaque rupture at apparently noncritical sites. Although pathologic examination shows that specific plaque characteristics correlate ...

This paradigm, in which inflammation is an instrumental process in plaque development and rupture, is further supported by studies showing that immune subsets are operative in atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic, systemic, inflammatory and metabolic disease and pathologic process characterized by the accumulation of cholesterol and calcium plaque within the arterial wall.