Abstract :
Atherosclerotic disease is the most common cause of cardiovascu- lar disorders, which is the leading cause of death in adults in the Western world. Atherosclerosis is a multifactorial ongoing process start- ing in the early twenties leading to unstable atherosclerotic plaques, ischemia, infarction, and eventually death. Treatment options are avail- able include drug therapy which influences hypercholesterolemia, dia- betes, hypertension and prevent thrombus formation. Interventions with percutaneous revascularization techniques or more invasively with bypass grafting of arteries are also available. End-stage atherosclerotic disease leading to permanent organ damage as seen after massive myocardial infarction may require organ transplantation. The long-term results of these interventions are compromised by renewed narrowing of the dilated lesion after percutaneous angio- plasty (restenosis), venous bypass graft (graft failure) or the smaller arteries in transplanted organs (transplantation arteriosclerosis). The common etiology in these different modalities is intimal hyperplasia leading to restenosis, graft failure and transplantation arteriosclerosis.
