Time Relationships Between Plaque Rupture and Infarction

To the Editor:In the October 24, 2000, issue of Circulation , Ojio et al1 reported 20 cases of acute myocardial infarction in which the patients had had angiograms shortly before acute myocardial infarction. They found evidence of plaque rupture/thrombi in 60% of cases at least 3 days before infarction. Because one half of the patients developed stable angina within a month before infarction, considerable time might elapse between plaque rupture and infarction. On the basis of these findings, Ojio and colleagues postulated …