Cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death for both men and women, with more than half of all deaths attributed to coronary artery disease in individuals under the age of 75 years. Of interest is that the rate of people dying from a heart attack each year in the United States has decreased from 1 in 2 to 1 in 8 individuals.1  Some of this reduction can be attributed to the decrease in percentage of adults who smoke (approximately 11% currently) compared with the more than 40% of adults who smoked in the 1960s.1 

Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) refer to a spectrum of pathophysiologic substrates at the myocardial cellular level resulting in a series of pathophysiological responses that contribute to a reduction in coronary blood flow. The end result is myocardial ischemia, injury, and/or infarction.2  Acute coronary syndromes encompasses 3 distinct diagnoses: (1) unstable angina,...

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