Introduction 1.1 Cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the number one killer of modern humankind. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) about 17.5 million people die every year from cardiovascular diseases and it is estimated this number will increase up to 20 million by 2015. Although genetic factors have a significant impact on the cardiovascular disease occurrence, their importance is often overestimated. The results of numerous clinical and epidemiological studies emphasise that cardiovascular diseases can often be predicted and therefore preventable. Accordingly, it is possible to discern several important, independent disease risk factors wich can be affected to a greater or less extent. 1.1.1 Definition Cardiovascular diseases are caused by arterial lesions characterized by local intimae thickening consisting of proliferating, altered smooth muscle cells, macrophages, lipids from intracellular and extracellular serum lipoprotein deposits and proliferating connective tissue (collagen, elastin, mucopolysaccharides. Consequential arterial narrowing causes CVD, stroke, and peripheral arterial disease. The risk factors leading to the development and occurrence of cardiovascular disease are arterial hypertension, cigarette smoking, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia, diabetes mellitus and positive family history. Additional factors favouring the occurrence of cardiovascular disease include obesity, sedentary lifestyle (insufficient physical activity) and emotional stress. Cardiovascular diseases are associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, thus posing a major health and socioeconomic problem to modern society. CVD are the worlds the leading cause of death and severe disability. CVD or ischemic heart disease occur due to reduction of coronary blood flow, most commonly caused by coronary thrombus. This results in myocardial lesions, whose extent determine the symptomatology, clinical course and disease outcome. According to symptomatology and clinical course, ischemic heart disease is categorized into acute coronary syndrome (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction-STEMI, non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction-NSTEMI and unstable angina) and stable angina pectoris. In almost 99% of cases, CVD are caused by obstructive atherosclerosis and less frequently by spasm (usually idiopathic, or caused by drugs such as cocaine). Subintimal plaques reducing or obstructing coronary blood flow characterize atherosclerosis.

No abstract