Morphological Changes in the Walls of Arteries of Different Basins at the Early Stages of Atherosclerosis Development.

Abstract

Pathomorphological, immunohistochemical, and morphometric studies were performed on samples of coronary, common carotid, renal, and common iliac arteries from 32 patients (95 samples) who died at the age of 40-70 years without terminal atherosclerosis (vascular stenosis < 35%). In all arterial samples, uneven thickening of the intima was observed due to the formation of large areas of fibrosis and hyperelastosis. The formation of atheromatous plaque with numerous small deposits of lipid detritus was detected in 24 (25.3%) samples. Atheromatous foci were more common in coronary arteries and less common in the renal arteries. The largest intimal area on cross-sections was found in the common iliac arteries (33-34% larger than the in coronary and common carotid arteries, respectively, and 63% larger in the renal arteries). The area of the media was maximum in common carotid and common iliac arteries, and minimum in coronary arteries. The intima-to-media area ratio was maximum in the coronary arteries. A strong correlation was found between the intima area and the number of newly formed vessels (r = 0.733, p < 0.05) and between the number of vessels and macrophages (r = 0.675, p < 0.01). The frequency of pronounced fibrosis of the media (area of fibrous changes ⩾ 50%) was highest in fragments of renal arteries and lower in carotid artery samples. The greatest number of calcification foci was observed in samples of the common iliac arteries (35% of the total number, p < 0.01). The obtained results demonstrate both stereotypy and heterogeneity of atherosclerotic lesions in arteries from different vascular basins.