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Nature Medicine 13, 532–534 (1 May 2007) | doi:10.1038/nm0507-532

The popcorn plaques

Jagat Narula & H William Strauss

Two-thirds of acute coronary events, such as myocardial infarction, unstable angina and sudden death, result from the rupture of atherosclerotic plaques in coronary arteries. When these plaques pop open, their thrombogenic interior is exposed to the luminal blood, leading to clot formation and the acute event.