Cardiovascular disease causes 18 million deaths every year. Despite the great improvement in prognosis over the past more than 10 years, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) remains the main cause of incidence rate and mortality worldwide.

In recent years, although the mortality of AMI has decreased, the prevalence has increased significantly, and the burden is still heavy. The pathogenesis of coronary heart disease mostly involves the formation of acute thrombosis on the ruptured atherosclerotic plaque. For example, the corresponding clinical evidence of myocardial infarction, i.e., symptoms, ECG changes, evaluation of classical cardiac markers, abnormal ventricular wall motion, or suggestive angiographic findings, are all necessary conditions for the diagnosis of myocardial infarction. For patients with AMI, early diagnosis of acute chest pain is essential to save lives. However, AMI is not always associated with chest pain, and the ECG performance is not specific in up to 50% of cases, which makes the diagnosis of AMI challenging. In order to manage atherosclerosis more effectively, accurate biomarkers are needed for risk prediction. Biomarker methods can improve the diagnostic accuracy of atherosclerosis and provide more information for the early risk stratification of coronary heart disease.

This Special Issue aims to welcome original research and review articles focusing on the early diagnosis and treatment of atherosclerosis.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Endothelial injury mechanism of atherosclerosis
• Early molecular markers of different degrees of atherosclerosis (such as specific genes, key proteins, etc.)
• Cellular analysis of atherosclerosis, expression of early markers in cytology
• Lifestyle and remission of atherosclerosis (including but not limited to diet, combined use of multiple drugs) and genetic factors of coronary heart disease
• Relationship between atherosclerosis and inflammation (not limited to endothelial cells and fibroblasts)
• Rehabilitation training for patients with coronary heart disease (such as jogging and strength training)
• Precise treatment of atherosclerosis