Cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. Cardiovascular disease includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, rheumatic heart disease, cardiomyopathy, heart arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, valvular heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis. The underlying mechanisms vary depending on the disease. Coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease involve atherosclerosis. This may be caused by high blood pressure, smoking, diabetes, lack of exercise, obesity,
Petr Taborsky him. The university eventually brought criminal charges against Taborsky and in 1990 he was found guilty of theft of the university's intellectual property in the form of $20,000 worth of research and trade secrets. It was the first such case to be tried in the United States. Taborsky refused to comply with a judge's order to transfer ownership of his patent to the University of South Florida, and in 1996 he was incarcerated in a maximum security state prison. After two months he was transferred to a minimum-security work-release center. Although Taborsky was offered clemency by Governor Lawton Chiles, he