Atherosclerotic Plaque Vulnerability in Experimental Models of Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a chronic and often progressive disease of the wall of the arterial vasculature. The term atherosclerosis is derived from the Greek words “athero” meaning gruel or paste and “skleros” meaning stiff or hard. Atherosclerosis is considered a major clinical problem, which underlies most ischemic events of both the heart as well as the brain. It is the result of the Western lifestyle and can start very early in life even in persons without a strong genetic disposition like untreated familial hypercholesteremia. From the second decade onwards, the disease progresses more rapidly. The clinical silence of atherosclerosis is often broken between the 3rd and 5th decade, when patients present with ischemic complaints of e.g. heart and brain. Despite the continuing decrease in cardiovascular disease (CVD) associated death over the last decade, it still is one of the main causes of death in The Netherlands, accounting for 30,7% of total deaths in 2007. As a result, the socio-economic consequences remain huge. It has been estimated that in the European Union annual CVD-associated costs are €169 billion, of which €105 billion are costs directly related to healthcare. Historically, atherosclerosis was simply considered as an accumulation of lipids in the vascular wall. In the

[DRESS syndrome as a result of sulfasalazine use].

A 24-year-old female developed DRESS syndrome (Drug Reaction with Eosinophilia and Systemic Symptoms) as a result of sulfasalazine use. The DRESS syndrome is a severe and acute hypersensitivity reaction that can be caused by a variety of drugs. The clinical presentation is diverse; the most common symptoms are fever, exanthema and lymphadenopathy. Haematologic abnormalities such as leukocytosis, accompanied primarily with eosinophilia, and sometimes atypical lymphocytes are also frequently reported. In most cases the DRESS syndrome needs no further treatment after discontinuation of the associated drug. However, 20% of patients are severely affected and the DRESS syndrome is potentially life-threatening. The patient was successfully treated with a glucocorticoid and an antihistamine