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Atherosclerosis is a disease in which fatty material is deposited on the wall of an artery. Normally the walls of an artery are smooth, allowing blood to flow unimpeded. However, if damage occurs to inner lining, fat, cholesterol, platelets and other substances may accumulate at a damaged section of the arterial wall. Eventually, the tissue builds-up and a plaque if formed, narrowing the lumen of the artery. Where the narrowing is severe, there is a risk that the vessel can become blocked completely if a thrombus forms in the diseased segment.

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