Advances in the Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment of Vulnerable Coronary Plaques

To date, cardiologists have alleviated the symptoms of patients with significant lesions in the coronary angiography by stenting or coronary artery bypass grafting. While normal-looking coronary segments in angiography have been regarded as ‘disease-free’ and mild/moderate stenoses as ‘non-treatable’, today that we know that from these non-significantly diseased areas may potentially arise acute coronary events if no further action is taken other than standard care for cardiovascular risk factors.