Aims: Vulnerable atherosclerotic plaques are lesions with a high propensity to develop plaque disruption and superimposed thrombosis. No systematic studies have been carried out on tissue markers for plaque vulnerability throughout the entire coronary artery system at the end stages of coronary atherosclerosis.
Methods and results: Nine autopsied patients (mean age 77 years) with angiographically severe trivascular coronary atherosclerosis were selected for this study. All visible lesions in postmortem coronary angiograms (n = 125) were histologically and immunohistochemically screened for the presence of intraplaque haemorrhages (activated) microvessels and inflammatory infiltrates. Intraplaque haemorrhages were observed in 76/125 plaques (61%). Chronic inflammation was found superficially in 59/125 plaques (47%) and deeply inside the plaque tissue in 103/125 plaques (83%). Microvessels were found in 100/125 lesions (80%), of which 58% showed endothelial expression of the vascular activation marker CD105. Moreover, microvascular CD105 positivity correlated positively with plaque haemorrhage and deeply seated plaque inflammation.
Conclusions: Plaque inflammation and haemorrhages can be found at a high frequency throughout the coronary artery system of elderly patients with multivessel coronary atherosclerosis. Microvascular expression of endoglin (CD105), which correlates positively with both of these features of plaque vulnerability, can serve as a marker of the risk of developing coronary thrombotic complications.
© 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.