ReviewJournal of interventional cardiology2002
Vulnerable plaque: the pathology of unstable coronary lesions.
Review in Journal of interventional cardiology, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 167 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Prospective, Double-blinded, Randomised Study to Evaluate the Effects of Different Doses of Statin Treatment on Plaque Volume and Composition in Coronary Disease Determined by Virtual Histology Using Intravascular Ultrasound
Accelerated Atherosclerosis in High Risk Population Groups: An Assessment by Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Who cites it
167 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 471 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of blueberry intervention on endothelial function: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of icosapent ethyl on progression of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with elevated triglycerides on statin therapy: final results of the EVAPORATE trial.European heart journal · 2020Trial
- Trial
- Delineation of atherosclerotic plaque using subharmonic imaging filtering techniques and a commercial intravascular ultrasound system.Ultrasonic imaging · 2013Trial
- MRI-derived measurements of fibrous-cap and lipid-core thickness: the potential for identifying vulnerable carotid plaques in vivo.Neuroradiology · 2004Trial
- Cell Membrane-Coated Biomimetic Nanocarriers for Plaque-Targeted Atherosclerosis Therapy: Molecular Mechanisms, Inflammatory Microenvironments, and Translational Challenges.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Review
- Evaluation of Carotid Plaque Vulnerability Using Dual-energy Computed Tomography Angiography: a Prospective Observational Study.Clinical neuroradiology · 2026Observational
- Coronary atherosclerotic plaque composition and classification in hypercholesterolemic pigs.Atherosclerosis · 2026Article
- The role of chemokines and their receptors in cardiovascular diseases.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- Associations of Cholesin and GPR146 with atherosclerotic plaque stability: integrated bioinformatics and functional analyses.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2026Article
- Article
- Prognostic value of coronary plaque composition in symptomatic patients with obstructive coronary artery disease.European radiology · 2025Article
- The Role of HSP47 in Thrombotic Disorders: Molecular Mechanism and Therapeutic Potential.Current issues in molecular biology · 2025Review
- Estimating inflammatory risk in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: plaque over plasma?European heart journal. Cardiovascular Imaging · 2025Review
- Phytochemical-mediated efferocytosis and autophagy in inflammation control.Cell death discovery · 2024Review
- Insulin receptors in vascular smooth muscle cells regulate plaque stability of atherosclerosis.Cardiovascular research · 2024Article
- Application of adipose tissue-derived stem cell therapy with a clinically relevant dose does not significantly affect atherosclerotic plaque characteristics in a streptozotocin-induced hyperglycaemia mouse model.Journal of molecular and cellular cardiology plus · 2024Article
- Plaque Characteristics Derived from Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography That Predict Cardiovascular Death.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Efficient and Accurate 3D Thickness Measurement in Vessel Wall Imaging: Overcoming Limitations of 2D Approaches Using the Laplacian Method.Journal of cardiovascular development and disease · 2024Article
107 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Vulnerable plaques have been defined as precursors to lesions that rupture. However, coronary thrombosis may occur from other lesions like plaque erosion and calcified nodules, although to a lesser frequency than rupture. Therefore, the definition of vulnerable plaque should be all-inclusive. Using descriptive terminology, the authors define the precursor lesion of plaque rupture as "thin-cap fibroatheroma" (TCFA). Morphologically, TCFAs have a necrotic core with an overlying thin fibrous cap (< 65 mm) consisting of collagen type I, which is infiltrated by macrophages. These lesions are most frequent in the coronary tree of patients dying with acute myocardial infarction and least common in those with plaque erosion. TCFAs are more common in patients with high serum total cholesterol (TC) and a high TC to high density cholesterol ratio, in women > 50 years, and in those patients with elevated levels of high sensitivity C-reactive protein. TCFAs are mostly found in the proximal left anterior descending coronary arteries and less commonly in the proximal right or the proximal left circumflex coronary arteries. In TCFAs, necrotic core length is approximately 2-17 mm (mean 8 mm) and the underlying cross-sectional luminal narrowing in over 75% of cases is < 75% (< 50% diameter stenosis). The area of the necrotic core in at least 75% of cases is < or = 3 mm2. Clinical studies of TCFAs are limited as angiography and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) catheters cannot precisely identify these lesions. Newer catheters and other techniques are at various stages of development and will play a significant role in the understanding of plaque progression and the development of symptomatic coronary artery disease.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.