Regression of femoral atherosclerosis.

T he scientific community has by now generally accepted that human atherosclerosis development can be influenced by therapeutic means. This insight has mainly been based on studies of the coronary arteries, the conclusive one being the Cholesterol Lowering Atherosclerosis Study (CLAS)1 but supported by studies like the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) study,2 the Helsinki Coronary Study,3 the Leiden Intervention Trial,4 the recently published Lifestyle Heart Trial,5 the Program on the Surgical Control of the Hyperlipidemias (POSCH),6and the FamilialAtherosclerosisTreatment Study (FATS).7 Atheroma change was estimated by expert panels in all these studies except the FATS, in which a computer-assisted visual system was used,8 and the Lifestyle Heart Trial. Treatment has in all these instances been by plasma lipid regulation. Recently one study was published on the effect of the calcium-channel blocker nifedipine on coronary atherosclerosis progression.9