An atheroma, or atheromatous plaque, is an abnormal accumulation of material in the inner layer of an arterial wall. The material consists of mostly macrophage cells, or debris, containing lipids, calcium and a variable amount of fibrous connective tissue. The accumulated material forms a swelling in the artery wall, which may intrude into the lumen of the artery, narrowing it and restricting blood flow. Atheroma is the pathological basis for the disease entity atherosclerosis, a subtype of arteriosclerosis. For most people, the first symptoms result from atheroma progression within the heart arteries, most commonly resulting in a heart attack and ensuing debility. The heart arteries are difficult to track because they are small (from about 5 mm down to microscopic), they are hidden deep within the chest and they never stop moving. Additionally, all mass-applied clinical strategies focus on both minimal cost and the overall safety of the procedure. Therefore, existing diagnostic strategies for detecting atheroma and tracking response to treatment have been extremely limited. The methods most commonly relied upon, patient symptoms and cardiac stress testing, do not detect any symptoms of the problem until atheromatous disease is very advanced because arteries enlarge, not constrict, in response to increasing atheroma. It is plaque ruptures, producing debris and clots which obstruct blood flow downstream, sometimes also locally (as seen on angiograms), which reduce/stop blood flow. Yet these events occur suddenly and are not revealed in advance by either stress tests or angiograms. The healthy epicardial coronary artery consists of three layers, the tunica intima, media, and adventitia. Atheroma and changes in the artery wall usually result in small aneurysms (enlargements) just large enough to compensate for the extra wall thickness with no change in the lumen diameter. However, eventually, typically as a result of rupture of vulnerable plaques and clots within the lumen over the plaque, stenosis (narrowing) of the vessel develops in some areas.

About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Related courses (3)
BIO-377: Physiology by systems
Le but est de connaitre et comprendre le fonctionnement des systèmes cardiovasculaire, urinaire, respiratoire, digestif, ainsi que du métabolisme de base et sa régulation afin de déveloper une réflect
BIO-320: Morphology I
Ce cours est une préparation intensive à l'examen d'entrée en 3ème année de Médecine. Les matières enseignées sont la morphologie macroscopique (anatomie), microscopique (histologie) du corps humain.
ME-481: Biomechanics of the cardiovascular system
This lecture will cover anatomy and physiology of the cardiovascular system, biophysics of the blood, cardiac mechanics, hemodynamics and biomechanics of the arterial system, microcirculation and biom
Related lectures (15)
Internal Iliac Artery: Branching Patterns and Anatomy
Explores the variability of the internal iliac artery's branching pattern.
Arterial Stenoses: Physiology and Clinical Significance
Explores arterial stenoses, atherosclerosis, coronary remodeling, pressure-flow relations, and clinical implications of stenosis in cardiovascular health.
Cardiovascular System: Introduction
Covers the purpose and anatomy of the cardiovascular system, including the heart, blood vessels, and lymphatic vessels.
Show more
Related publications (101)

Spatial analysis of 10-year predicted risk and incident atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: the CoLaus cohort

Stéphane Joost, Idris Guessous, David Nicolas De Ridder, Guillaume Jordan

Whether cardiovascular risk scores geographically aggregate and inform on spatial development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases (ASCVD) remains unknown. Our aim is to determine the spatial distribution of 10-year predicted cardiovascular risk and ...
2024

Combining European and US risk prediction models with polygenic risk scores to refine cardiovascular prevention: the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus Study

Jacques Fellay, Christian Axel Wandall Thorball, Stéphane Fournier, Roxane De La Harpe

Lay Summary The aim of this study is to determine whether using polygenic risk scores improves the prediction of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk when combined with clinical scores currently recommended by European and US guidelines on cardiovas ...
OXFORD UNIV PRESS2023

Impact and implications of mixed plaque class in automated characterization of complex atherosclerotic lesions

Yanan Niu

Atherosclerosis is a complex disease altering vasculature morphology, and subsequently flow, with progressive plaque formation, mural disruption, and lumen occlusion. Determination of clinically-relevant plaque components-particularly calcium, lipid, and f ...
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD2022
Show more
Related concepts (27)
Myocardial infarction
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may travel into the shoulder, arm, back, neck or jaw. Often it occurs in the center or left side of the chest and lasts for more than a few minutes. The discomfort may occasionally feel like heartburn. Other symptoms may include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling faint, a cold sweat or feeling tired.
Stenosis
A stenosis (from Ancient Greek στενός, "narrow") is an abnormal narrowing in a blood vessel or other tubular organ or structure such as foramina and canals. It is also sometimes called a stricture (as in urethral stricture). Stricture as a term is usually used when narrowing is caused by contraction of smooth muscle (e.g. achalasia, prinzmetal angina); stenosis is usually used when narrowing is caused by lesion that reduces the space of lumen (e.g. atherosclerosis).
Angiography
Angiography or arteriography is a medical imaging technique used to visualize the inside, or lumen, of blood vessels and organs of the body, with particular interest in the arteries, veins, and the heart chambers. Modern angiography is performed by injecting a radio-opaque contrast agent into the blood vessel and imaging using X-ray based techniques such as fluoroscopy. The word itself comes from the Greek words ἀγγεῖον angeion 'vessel' and γράφειν graphein 'to write, record'.
Show more

Graph Chatbot

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.