Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2000 Mar;83(3):361-6.
doi: 10.1136/heart.83.3.361.

The pathophysiology of acute coronary syndromes

M J Davies  1
Affiliations
Review

The pathophysiology of acute coronary syndromes

M J Davies. Heart. 2000 Mar.
No abstract available

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1:
Figure 1:
The established stable plaque. In this cross section of a human coronary artery there is an established fibrolipid plaque with a core of lipid. The lipid core is separated from the lumen by the plaque cap. The plaque only occupies part of the circumference of the artery, leaving a segment of normal arterial wall.
Figure 2:
Figure 2:
Thrombosis caused by erosion. This human coronary artery is largely occluded by a mass of thrombus which is adherent to the surface of a plaque. The plaque itself is intact.
Figure 3:
Figure 3:
Thrombosis caused by disruption. The cap of a plaque has torn and projects up into the lumen. Thrombus has formed within the original lipid core from where it projects into, but does not totally occlude, the lumen. This is the typical lesion of unstable angina.
Figure 4:
Figure 4:
Thrombosis caused by disruption. The cap of the plaque has torn and thrombus within the lipid core extends into and occludes the lumen. This is the typical lesion of acute myocardial infarction.
Figure 5:
Figure 5:
Platelet embolisation. Any thrombus (red) which protrudes into the arterial lumen but does not occlude has the surface covered by a layer of activated platelets strongly expressing the IIb/IIIa receptor. Clumps of these platelets are swept down into the myocardium vascular bed.
Figure 6:
Figure 6:
Angiogram of plaque disruption. In this postmortem angiogram there is a typical type II eccentric ragged stenosis with an overlying intraluminal filling defect indicating thrombus over the plaque.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Circulation. 1986 Mar;73(3):418-27 - PubMed
    1. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1985 Mar;5(3):609-16 - PubMed
    1. Br Heart J. 1988 Dec;60(6):459-64 - PubMed
    1. Lancet. 1994 Sep 17;344(8925):793-5 - PubMed
    1. Circulation. 1995 May 1;91(9):2319-24 - PubMed

MeSH terms