What makes a plaque rupture? A simple answer seems too much to ask for

In chronic coronary syndromes, revascularisation of coronary atherosclerotic lesions has two aims: symptomatic improvement on one hand and avoiding future acute coronary events on the other1. For a long time, “ischaemia” has been assumed to constitute the differentiating factor: stenoses associated with stress-induced ischaemia would benefit from revascularisation both regarding symptoms, such as angina, and also regarding prognosis, with a reduction of future acute coronary events and subsequent mortality. All the same, it is widely realised that acute coronary syndromes (ACS) can also result from the rupture of lesions that are not significantly stenotic and, hence, not associated ...