Atherosclerosis is a lipoprotein-driven inflammatory disorder leading to a plaque formation at specific sites of the arterial tree. After decades of slow progression, atherosclerotic plaque rupture and formation of thrombi are the major factors responsible for the development of acute coronary syndromes (ACSs). In this regard, the detection of high-risk (vulnerable) plaques is an ultimate goal in the management of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). Vulnerable plaques have specific morphological features that make their detection possible, hence allowing for identification of high-risk patients and the tailoring of therapy. Plaque ruptures predominantly occur amongst lesions characterized as thin-cap fibroatheromas (TCFA). Plaques without a rupture, such as plaque erosions, are also thrombi-forming lesions on the most frequent pathological intimal thickening or fibroatheromas. Many attempts to comprehensively identify vulnerable plaque constituents with different invasive and non-invasive imaging technologies have been made. In this review, advantages and limitations of invasive and non-invasive imaging modalities currently available for the identification of plaque components and morphologic features associated with plaque vulnerability, as well as their clinical diagnostic and prognostic value, were discussed. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2020, 21, 2992 2 of 26 by the low and oscillatory endothelial shear stress [3]. According to the current understanding, lesion development involves lipid accumulation in the arterial intima, resulting in foam cell formation, a local inflammatory response, and migration and proliferation of several cell types, including macrophages, smooth muscle cells (SMCs), lymphocytes, neutrophils, and dendritic cells that play a pivotal role in its progression. Lipid accumulation is a key event in the formation of the atherosclerotic lesion, and it is determined by different classes of lipoproteins [4]. Atherosclerotic plaque tends to develop early in life [5], progressing with age; however, the progression rate is not completely predictable and varies among individuals. In general, it undergoes a prolonged asymptomatic phase (lasting many years or several decades) until the manifestation of the first clinical symptoms often at the later stages of atherosclerosis. The mechanisms of plaque progression encompass SMC apoptosis, matrix synthesis, angiogenesis, arterial remodeling, fibrous cap rupture, and thrombosis, followed by necrosis and calcification. The most acute cardiovascular events are triggered by the rupture; erosion; or, the least common, calcified nodule, the vulnerable plaque phenotypes, followed by coronary thrombosis. Ruptured lesions are responsible for the majority (73%) of all ACSs [6]. In addition, the underlying mechanism of sudden coronary death from thrombi was found from plaque erosions, in 30%-35% of cases, and rarely from calcified nodules, in 2%-7% of cases [7].The biological features of two major classes of high-risk (vulnerable) plaques, such as rupture-pron...