Coronary Artery Disease: Current Concepts in Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnostics and Treatment

Cardiovascular disease is ranked as the leading cause of death world wide, responsible for 17.1 million deaths globally each year. Such numbers are often difficult to comprehend. Heart disease kills one person every 34 seconds in the USA alone. Although the leading killer, the incidence of cardiovascular disease has declined in recent years due to a better understanding of the pathology, implementation of lipid lowering therapy new drug regimens including low molecular weight heparin and antiplatelet drugs such as glycoprotein IIb/IIIa receptor inhibitors and acute surgical intervention. The disease burden has a great financial impact on global healthcare systems and major economic consequences for world economies. This text aims to deliver the current understanding of coronary artery disease and is split into three main sections: 1. Epidemiology and pathophysiology of coronary artery disease 2. Coronary artery disease diagnostics and 3. Treatment regimens for coronary artery disease