ABSTRACT
Atherosclerosis is the disease most commonly treated by vascular surgeons. It is also the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in modern Western society, in spite of a decreasing cardiovascular mortality in the United States. Forty years ago, arteriosclerosis was believed to be an inevitable consequence of aging. Physicians considered it to be an inexorable arterial degeneration offering little hope for treatment. That atherosclerosis was segmental in nature and that diseased arteries could be treated by bypassing or removing lesions were uniquely surgical insights.[1] Surgical intervention is the most effective means of limiting the lethal consequences of aortic aneurysms, coronary artery disease, and carotid bifurcation plaques. However, atherosclerosis is also a systemic disease remaining dormant in arteries until a complication signals its presence.
