Abstract

The clinical entity “coronary heart disease (CHD)” comprises two major components – atherosclerosis (AS) of the coronary arteries and acute thrombosis that occasionally occurs superimposed on an atherosclerotic artery wall, causing various types of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) like acute myocardial infarction (AMI). As CHD is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the Western societies, massive research efforts have been invested in it. It has become clear e.g. that the triggering factors for acute manifestations of CHD are not identical to the slow-acting, classic risk factors for coronary AS. The large impact of hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and smoking on the development of CHD has been established already some decades ago. Yet they do no explain all clinical and epidemiological features of CHD. These major CVD risk factors have dominated the research filed, and it has not always been easy for other potential risk factors to receive attention and research funding.