Unstable angina articles from across Nature Portfolio

Vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are known for their fate plasticity in atherosclerosis plaque progression. Here, Zhai et al. show that extracellular traps generated from CD68 ⁺ VSMCs adversely contribute to plaque progression and highlight their unexpected role in plaque stability by regulating the direction of VSMC trans-differentiation.

In this Review, Maack and colleagues discuss the pathophysiology of angina in the context of the underlying cardiovascular condition as well as the modes of action of antianginal drugs to provide the clinician with a rationale and compass of when to use which compound or combination of drugs.

Findings from the ATPCI trial show that trimetazidine is safe but not protective against angina and cardiac events in the long term after percutaneous coronary intervention.

Ischaemic heart disease (IHD) causes a large number of deaths in the European Union, but a new study reveals important inequalities in IHD mortality between countries. Surveillance systems might help to identify these differences and define tailored treatment strategies, so that the burden of IHD can be reduced across Europe.

Over the past decade, the use of β-blockers has transformed the management and prognosis of patients with heart failure (HF). A post hoc analysis of the SENIORS study now raises questions about the validity of a composite 'ischemic' end point that includes sudden death in trials of β-blocker therapy for patients with HF.