ABSTRACT
The concept of inflammation as an integral part of atherothrombotic disease is not a new one. Early pioneers such as Virchow, Rokitansky, and Duguid wrote about inflammation and thrombosis as key components of cardiovascular disease (1-3), and recent developments have demonstrated how prescient these views were (4). Our modern views, however, are considerably more complex because they exist within the current molecular framework. Many details at the gene, protein, and cell biology levels are being developed, and it will take some time to meld all this detail into a comprehensive scheme.
