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Figure 3 Micrographs showing the three major epicardial coronary arteries from a patient from the control group who died of a noncardiac cause. (A1 to A4) Left anterior descending coronary vessel. (A1) A prevalently fibrous plaque characterized by a small lipidic-necrotic core associated with a thick fibrous cap (Movat, x4). (A2) Within the plaque cap, only a small number of macrophage-type foam cells, CD68-positive, was present (x20), associated with a great number of smooth muscle cells, actin-positive ([A3], x20). In the shoulder, a small infiltrate consisting of T-lymphocytes, CD3-positive, was also observed ([A4], x20). (B and C) Left circumflex and right coronary vessels, respectively, from the same patient. Two stable plaques characterized by a concentric, predominantly fibrotic plaque with morphological features similar to those of the plaque shown in panel A are shown as an example (Movat, x2).