Redefining residual inflammatory risk after acute coronary syndrome

Over the last decades, inflammation proved to play a pivotal role in atherosclerotic plaque formation, progression and destabilization. Several studies showed that the patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome are at increased risk of adverse cardiovascular events at both short- and long-term follow-up. Results from different clinical trials highlighted that a residual inflammatory risk exist and targeting inflammation is a successful strategy in selected cases associated to an increased inflammatory burden. Recently, the optimization of intracoronary and multimodality imaging allowed to also assess the entity of local inflammation, thus encouraging the individuation of plaque characteristics that portend a higher risk of future cardiovascular events. In this short review, we aim to highlight the role of systemic and local inflammation in acute coronary syndromes, to provide a summarized overview of the possible medical strategies applicable in selected cases and to underline the diagnostic and prognostic potential of multimodality imaging.