Abstract
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major health and economic problem for most of the world. In 2002, it accounted for one third of all the deaths in the world1 and is said to account for 38% of all deaths in the United States. Over thirteen million Americans experience CAD annually at a yearly cost of about four hundred billion dollars.2 Current epidemiological estimates suggest that at the time of birth, one can predict that, in their lifetime, they will have a 47% chance of experiencing a cardiac event and if combined with cerebrovascular disease more than 60%.3 The fundamental defect responsible for CAD is atherosclerosis which occurs in major blood vessels throughout the body, but the consequences are more devastating when it occurs in vessels that supply blood to organs such as the heart, brain, and kidney. The presence of coronary atherosclerosis with the superimposition of a thrombus can lead to the clinical manifestation of angina, myocardial infarction, and sudden cardiac death. CAD has long been the most common cause of death in the western world. It is rapidly increasing worldwide with the prediction of being number one killer in the world by 2010.2 © 2010 Springer-Verlag London.