Table of Contents

Foreword. Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Plaque Rupture. Apoptosis and Plaque Vulnerability. Animal Models of Vulnerable Plaque. Diagnosis of Vulnerable Plaques in the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory. Imaging of the High Risk Atherosclerotic Plaque by Intravascular Ultrasound: Focal Assessment of Morphology and Vulnerability or Systemic Assessment of Disease Burden and Activity? Optical Coherence Tomography for Detection of Vulnerable Plaque. Magnetic Resonance Imaging of "High Risk" Plaque. Nuclear Imaging of the Vulnerable Plaque: Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET). Identification of the Vulnerable Plaque: The Role of Thermography. Treatment of Vulnerable Plaque: Current and Future Strategies.