Intracoronary thermography

Introduction

Vascular atherosclerosis and its consequences are the most rapidly growing arterial pathology, with myocardial infarction and ischaemic stroke to remain a major cause of premature morbidity and death despite recent therapeutic advances. Although sudden cardiac death or acute myocardial infarction in a large proportion of previously asymptomatic individuals, occurs as the first manifestation of coronary atherosclerosis, most of the atherosclerotic plaques remain harmless for a long period of time. Atherosclerosis is a continuous process that is initiated early in life, and gradually progresses with potentially devastating consequences: atherosclerotic plaque rupture is the most common underlying pathological mechanism creating acute ischaemic coronary syndromes. 1 This term refers to the process whereby the endothelial surface of the plaque is disrupted to expose the underlying prothrombotic vessel wall to circulating platelets and coagulation factors.

The recognition of the specific morphological and functional characteristics of the high-risk plaques, is essential for the prevention of acute coronary syndromes. For many years of our clinical practice and pathology research pertaining to atherosclerotic...