Subclinical atherosclerosis: what it is, what it means and what we can do about it
Open Access
- 28 June 2008
- journal article
- review article
- Published by Hindawi Limited in International Journal of Clinical Practice
- Vol. 62 (8), 1246-1254
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-1241.2008.01804.x
Abstract
Atherosclerosis is a chronic, progressive, inflammatory disease with a long asymptomatic phase. Disease progression can lead eventually to the occurrence of acute cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction, unstable angina pectoris and sudden cardiac death. While the disease is still in a subclinical stage, however, the presence of atherosclerosis can be identified by several methods, including coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasonography, B-mode ultrasonography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Based on the results of imaging studies, statin therapy can slow, halt or even reverse the progression of atherosclerotic disease, depending on the intensity of treatment. Whether to screen and treat patients for subclinical atherosclerosis remains controversial. Although atheromatous plaque burden reduction has not yet been definitively correlated with significant decreases in risk for acute coronary events in asymptomatic patients, statin therapy contributes significantly to the risk reduction observed in clinical trials in patients with and without overt coronary disease.Keywords
This publication has 63 references indexed in Scilit:
- Optimal Medical Therapy with or without PCI for Stable Coronary DiseaseNew England Journal of Medicine, 2007
- Performance of Subclinical Arterial Disease Detection as a Screening Test for Coronary Heart DiseaseHypertension, 2006
- Women with a low Framingham risk score and a family history of premature coronary heart disease have a high prevalence of subclinical coronary atherosclerosisAmerican Heart Journal, 2005
- Inflammation and Carotid Artery—Risk for Atherosclerosis Study (ICARAS)Circulation, 2005
- Inflammation, Atherosclerosis, and Coronary Artery DiseaseNew England Journal of Medicine, 2005
- Comparison of ezetimibe plus simvastatin versus simvastatin monotherapy on atherosclerosis progression in familial hypercholesterolemiaAmerican Heart Journal, 2005
- Prevalence of coronary heart disease and carotid arterial thickening in patients with the metabolic syndrome (The ARIC Study)The American Journal of Cardiology, 2004
- The prevalence and severity of coronaryartery calcification on coronary arterycomputed tomography in black and white subjectsJournal of the American College of Cardiology, 2003
- Pravastatin, lipids, and atherosclerosis in the carotid arteries (PLAC-II)The American Journal of Cardiology, 1995
- Relation of Serum Lipoprotein Levels and Systolic Blood Pressure to Early AtherosclerosisNew England Journal of Medicine, 1986