Endothelial and Vascular Smooth Cell Dysfunctions: A Comprehensive Appraisal

Cardiovascular disease (CvDs) such as coronary artery disease, hypertension, congestive heart failure and stroke are the leading causes of death and disability in the Western World (Madamanchi et al., 2005; Thom, 1989). The majority of CvDs results from complication of atherosclerosis. Prevention of cardiovascular events is therefore urgently needed and is one of the major recent challenges of medicine. New molecular imaging approaches featuring the assessment of inflammatory processes in the vascular wall (on top of existing anatomic and functional vessel imaging procedures) could emerge as decisive tools for the understanding and prevention of cardiovascular events (Schafers et al., 2010).