Reactive Oxygen Species, Metalloproteinases, and Plaque Stability

nderstanding of the factors that lead to atherosclerotic plaque instability causing thrombosis is increasing rapidly.The morphological characteristics of plaques that are unstable, ie, complicated by recent thrombosis, lend insight into the structural and cellular features of presently stable plaques that are vulnerable, ie, at high risk of becoming unstable in the future.The risk of any individual with coronary atherosclerosis developing an acute ischemic event depends on the number of such vulnerable plaques present in that individual rather than the number of plaques overall.One factor in the variation in risk for a further acute event after, for example, an acute myocardial infarction is the variation from individual to individual in the number of vulnerable plaques.