Vulnerable plaque: detection paradigms from molecules in peripheral blood Timothy D Henry, Cheryl A Conover and Robert S Schwartz

Atherosclerosis is a ubiquitous, chronic inflammatory arterial disease and is found in even the earliest life stages. Stary found intimal foam cells in 45% of infants 8 months old and younger. These foam cells occur with lipid accumulations and scattered extracellular lipid in 65% of children between the ages of 12 and 14 years. An additional 8% of children progress beyond this early stage and develop advanced preatheroma or actual atheromatous lesions.