ABSTRACT
The acute coronary syndromes of unstable angina, acute myocardial infarction, and sudden ischemic cardiac death share a common pathophysiology: the abrupt development of ischemia caused by the obstruction of a coronary artery by thrombus formed on an acutely disrupted atherosclerotic plaque (1). Together these syndromes affect approximately 2.5 million persons and account for 600,000 or 1 in 5 deaths annually in the United States. This chapter provides an overview of the clinical manifestations of plaque rupture with its main focus on the acute coronary syndromes.
