ABSTRACT
Atherosclerosis has a predilection for the critical arterial beds: coronary, cerebral, and aortoiliac. Its complications are the major cause of death in North America as well as in other economically developed societies. 1 Coronary heart disease (CHD) and cerebrovascular disease join cancer as the three leading nontraumatic causes of death in the U.S. The development of atherosclerotic lesions follows a variable course dependent on multiple factors, but in the past decade much has been learned about the epidemiology, anatomical sites, and clinical progression of the disease in man.
