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Figure 8 Plaque rupture by intravascular ultrasound (IVUS). Two adjacent sites in the coronary artery of a patient with an acute myocardial infarction are shown. In the right panel, the IVUS catheter is in a small lumen separated by a fibrous cap from a large lipid core. In this example, the lipid core is no longer present, and there is blood flow through the center of this atherosclerotic plaque. In the left panel, rupture of the fibrous cap can be seen at approximately 12 o’clock, and the underlying lipid core has apparently escaped after plaque rupture.