CD34 and atherosclerosis: The purposes of the current study were to: 1) determine if the number of circulating PCs, as determined by the presence of the CD34 cell surface marker (i.e. CD34+ cell count), was associated with 10-year CVD risk based on the Framingham CVD Risk Prediction Models;6 and 2) determine if CD34+ cell counts were associated with the extent of subclinical atherosclerosis, after adjustment for 10-year CVD risk.