Given the continuing development of new statins and their increasing, beneficial use in clinical practice and given the importance of clinical research into the atherosclerotic plaque and its role in cardiovascular and endovascular diseases, given the immense advances in animal and human studies that have taken place over the past few years at a steadily increasing pace, Gaw and Shepherd have chosen topics on lipids and atherosclerosis, which are of current interest for researchers and clinicians alike. Therefore, the need for a frequent up-to-date review of these advances is obvious.