Figure 1
Atherosclerotic plaque progression. Atherosclerotic plaques grow and develop before taking one of two clinical pathways. Abbreviations: CAD, coronary artery disease; MI, myocardial infarction.
Figure 2
Plaque analysis by CCTA. To assess the (A) absence or (B) presence of coronary artery calcium. Plaque type is classified as noncalcified (C), partially calcified (D), or calcified plaque (E). Plaque features are classified as positive remodeling (panel (F) shows external remodeling of calcified plaque), (G) low-attenuation plaque, and (H) positive remodeling. Plaque pattern refers to noncalcified regions of plaques and is classified as (I) homogeneous, (J) heterogeneous, or (K) napkin-ring sign noncalcified plaque with enhancing ring surrounding a low-attenuation core. Calcification type is classified as (L) spotty (calcified lesions <3 mm) or (M) large (calcified lesions >3 mm). Abbreviation: CCTA, coronary computed tomography angiography. Reprinted from Voros S, Maurovich-Horvat P, Marvasty IB, Bansal AT, Barnes MR, Vazquez G, et al. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2014;8(6):442–451. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcct.2014.08.006 and reused in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED) license.
Figure 3
The GLOBAL study. (A) Patient population in the GLOBAL study and the Lp(a) subanalysis of the GLOBAL study; (B) Lp(a) distribution in Part 1A; (C) Lp(a) distribution in Part 1B. *Part 1B included 74 patients who were enrolled in Part 1A. Abbreviations: CAD, coronary artery disease; CCTA, coronary computed tomography angiography; GLOBAL, Genetic Loci and the Burden of Atherosclerotic Lesions; IQR, interquartile range; Lp(a), lipoprotein a; Q, quartile.
Figure 4
Published data from the GLOBAL study. Published data from Part 1A of the Lp(a) subanalysis of the GLOBAL study showed that increasing levels of circulating PCSK9 were associated with higher levels of circulating Lp(a), and this was associated with a high prevalence of atherosclerosis. For patients within the highest Lp(a) quartile, the prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis across PCSK9 quartiles 1–4 was 38.9%, 50.0%, 78.9%, and 77.8%, respectively. Abbreviations: GLOBAL, Genetic Loci and the Burden of Atherosclerotic Lesions; Lp(a), lipoprotein a; PCSK9, proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9. Reprinted from Brown BO, Watson DS, Boatwright W, Dayspring T, Barnes B, and Voros S. J Clin Lipidol. 2024;18(4):e577–e578 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jacl.2024.04.117 (55), with permission from Elsevier.