ReviewFrontiers in physiology2020
Calcification in Atherosclerotic Plaque Vulnerability: Friend or Foe?
Review in Frontiers in physiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 112 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
112 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 170 citations in OpenAlex.
- High-risk plaque characteristics associated with recurrent stroke in patients with intracranial stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of neurology · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Extracranial Carotid Plaque Calcification and Cerebrovascular Ischemia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Stroke · 2023Pooled it
- Can carotid artery calcifications on dental radiographs predict adverse vascular events? A systematic review.Clinical oral investigations · 2021Pooled it
- Multimodal profiling of atherosclerosis: Protocol and pilot data for the AtherOMICS biobank.Science advances · 2026Article
- Diabetic plaque calcification: mechanisms, imaging phenotypes, and clinical implications.npj metabolic health and disease · 2026Review
- Microcalcification: Effects on Atherosclerotic Vulnerable Plaques, Detection, and Therapeutic Perspectives.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2026Review
- Association of Relative Pericoronary Adipose Tissue Attenuation with Coronary Artery Calcification Severity.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2026Article
- Geometric and density relationships of calcification clusters in carotid atherosclerosis.The neuroradiology journal · 2026Article
- Investigational New Drug-enabling studies in a human vessel-chip: Are we there yet?Bioengineering & translational medicine · 2026Review
- AI-driven radiomics in vascular disease: a narrative review of image analysis and clinical translation.Cardiovascular diagnosis and therapy · 2026Review
- Article
- Elevated Asporin expression in human atherosclerotic plaques promotes their stability and reduces the risk for cardiovascular events.Cardiovascular research · 2026Article
- Smooth muscle cell phenotypic modulation during atherosclerosis.Vascular pharmacology · 2026Review
- Coronary atherosclerotic plaque composition and classification in hypercholesterolemic pigs.Atherosclerosis · 2026Article
- Genetic ablation of TRPC6 facilitated age-dependent atherosclerosis progression in an ApoE-/- mouse model.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Dynamic Gene Expression Signatures across Stages of Carotid Plaque Calcification.Journal of vascular research · 2026Article
- Concentration of Trace Elements in Patients with Aortic Stenosis and Coexisting Coronary Artery Disease: A Pilot Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Prognostic Role and Therapeutic Implications of Intravascular Optical Coherence Tomography Detected Coronary Plaque Microstructures in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
52 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
7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Calcification is a clinical marker of atherosclerosis. This review focuses on recent findings on the association between calcification and plaque vulnerability. Calcified plaques have traditionally been regarded as stable atheromas, those causing stenosis may be more stable than non-calcified plaques. With the advances in intravascular imaging technology, the detection of the calcification and its surrounding plaque components have evolved. Microcalcifications and spotty calcifications represent an active stage of vascular calcification correlated with inflammation, whereas the degree of plaque calcification is strongly inversely related to macrophage infiltration. Asymptomatic patients have a higher content of plaque calcification than that in symptomatic patients. The effect of calcification might be biphasic. Plaque rupture has been shown to correlate positively with the number of spotty calcifications, and inversely with the number of large calcifications. There may be certain stages of calcium deposition that may be more atherogenic. Moreover, superficial calcifications are independently associated with plaque rupture and intraplaque hemorrhage, which may be due to the concentrated and asymmetrical distribution of biological stress in plaques. Conclusively, calcification of differential amounts, sizes, shapes, and positions may play differential roles in plaque homeostasis. The surrounding environments around the calcification within plaques also have impacts on plaque homeostasis. The interactive effects of these important factors of calcifications and plaques still await further study.
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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.