One Step Closer to Imaging Vulnerable Plaque in the Coronary Arteries

Notwithstanding the major im-provements in diagnosis and therapy, coronary heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States. About every 26 s, an American will undergo a coronary event, and about every minute someonewill die from one (American Heart Association computa-tion based on latest available mortality data) (1). The event causingdeath ismost often a thrombus in the coronary artery, set off by rupture of an atheroma located in thevesselwall (2).Atheromas likely to rupture (vulnerable plaques) have See page 56