cause of death one year ago this month has now been revealed.Liotta, 67, died from pulmonary edema and acute heart failure in his sleep while working on a movie in the Dominican Republic on May 26 of last year, according to documents obtained by TMZ, due to a condition that affects half of Americans over the age of 45: atherosclerosis.Dubbed a “silent killer,” atherosclerosis is marked by the slow buildup of plaque in your arteries, complications of which include both pulmonary edema and acute heart failure.Experts describe plaque as a sticky byproduct in the blood that’s made up of a combination of fat, cholesterol, calcium and other deposits. As plaque clogs the walls of the vascular system, arteries become hard and narrow.