Association Between Pulmonary Fibrosis and Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Atherosclerosis results from an excessive inflammatory and/or fibroproliferative response to various insults to the endothelium and smooth muscle of the arterial wall.¹ The pathogenesis of the atherosclerotic lesion involves recruitment of leukocytes into the vascular intima, accumulation of cholesterol-laden mononuclear cells, vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation and migration, deposition of collagen-rich extracellular matrix, and neovascularization to support the evolving fibroproliferative process.¹