Microcalcifications in Vulnerable Plaque Rupture

What are the actual mechanisms of plaque rupture? How can we integrate the new findings by Maldonado et al in the context of a threshold for rupture of vulnerable plaque? In this podcast, Associate Editor Ivor Benjamin interviews senior author Sheldon Weinbaum (The City College of the City University of New York) and leading expert Linda Demer (UCLA School of Medicine) about the work by Weinbaum and colleagues on coronary artery calcification and the use of microCT to identify microcalcifications. Are microcalcifications the "smoking gun" for triggering inflammation-induced atherosclerosis? Listen now.

Natalia Maldonado, Adreanne Kelly-Arnold, Yuliya Vengrenyuk, Damien Laudier, John T Fallon, Renu Virmani, Luis Cardoso, and Sheldon Weinbaum A mechanistic analysis of the role of microcalcifications in atherosclerotic plaque stability - potential implications for plaque rupture Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol, published online July 9, 2012, doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00036.2012.