A vulnerable plaque is an atheromatous plaque which is particularly prone to produce sudden major problems, such as a heart attack or stroke. An atheroma (plural: atheromata) is an abnormal fatty deposit which develops within the walls of arteries over time. ... A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ... A stroke or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) occurs when the blood supply to a part of the brain is suddenly interrupted by occlusion (an ischemic stroke- approximately 90% of strokes), by hemorrhage (a hemorrhagic stroke - less than 10% of strokes) or other causes. ...

Generally an atheroma becomes vulnerable if it grows more rapidly and has a thin cover separating it from the bloodstream inside the arterial lumen. Tearing of the cover is called plaque rupture. An atheroma (plural: atheromata) is an abnormal fatty deposit which develops within the walls of arteries over time. ... In anatomy, the lumen is the cavity or channel within a tube or tubular structure, such as the vascular lumen of a blood vessel, along which blood flows. ...

Upon rupture, tissue debris spill into the blood stream; these debris are often too large (over 5 micrometers) to pass on through the capillaries downstream. In this, the usual situation, the debris obstruct smaller downstream branches of the artery resulting in temporary to permanent end artery/capillary closure with loss of blood supply to, and death of the previously supplied tissues. During angioplasty, a severe case of this, enough to be visible on the basis of slow clearance of injected contrast down the artery lumen, the situation is often termed non-reflow. Capillaries are the smallest of a bodys blood vessels, measuring 5-10 μm. ...

Additionally, atheroma rupture may allow bleeding from the lumen into the inner tissue of the atheroma making the atheroma size suddenly increase and protrude into the lumen of the artery producing lumen narrowing or even total obstruction. An atheroma (plural: atheromata) is an abnormal fatty deposit which develops within the walls of arteries over time. ... In anatomy, the lumen is the cavity or channel within a tube or tubular structure, such as the vascular lumen of a blood vessel, along which blood flows. ... An atheroma (plural: atheromata) is an abnormal fatty deposit which develops within the walls of arteries over time. ... An atheroma (plural: atheromata) is an abnormal fatty deposit which develops within the walls of arteries over time. ... In anatomy, the lumen is the cavity or channel within a tube or tubular structure, such as the vascular lumen of a blood vessel, along which blood flows. ... In anatomy, the lumen is the cavity or channel within a tube or tubular structure, such as the vascular lumen of a blood vessel, along which blood flows. ... A stenosis is an abnormal narrowing in a blood vessel or other tubular organ or structure. ...

Blood clotting on top of the site of the ruptured plaque may become so large as to largely or completely block the lumen of the artery, thereby stopping blood flow to the tissues the artery supplies. A thrombus or blood clot is the final product of blood coagulation, through the aggregation of platelets and the activation of the humoral coagulation system. ... In anatomy, the lumen is the cavity or channel within a tube or tubular structure, such as the vascular lumen of a blood vessel, along which blood flows. ... Section of an artery An arterial road is a class of highway. ... Section of an artery An arterial road is a class of highway. ...

Medical research since the early to mid-1990s, using IVUS, thermography, careful clinical follow-up and other methods, have indicated that these lesions are the ones which produce most heart attacks. Unfortunately, vulnerable plaques are not revealed by either cardiac stress testing or coronary angiography, the heart tests most commonly performed clinically with the goal of testing suspectibility to future heart attack. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is an medical imaging methodology using (a) specially designed long thin complex manufactured catheters attached to (b) computerized ultrasound equipment. ... Thermography can refer to a printing process and a imaging process. ...

Repeated atheroma rupture and healing is one of the mechanisms, perhaps the dominant one, which creates artery stenosis. An atheroma (plural: atheromata) is an abnormal fatty deposit which develops within the walls of arteries over time. ... Section of an artery An arterial road is a class of highway. ... A stenosis is an abnormal narrowing in a blood vessel or other tubular organ or structure. ...