The effect of multidirectional wall shear stress on plaque characteristics: delving deeper into local shear stress metrics

The goal of investigations to risk-stratify individual coronary plaques over the past few decades has been to identify the so-called “vulnerable plaque”, i.e., a high-risk plaque on a trajectory towards plaque destabilisation and precipitation of a new clinical event, so that pre-emptive interventions could be utilised to interrupt that trajectory and avert the adverse event. Initial efforts focused on anatomic characterisation of the plaque,...