Angiometric assessment of coronary atherosclerosis in ischaemic heart disease in elderly and old patients.
In 30 patients deceased because of various forms of ischaemic heart disease and in 10 control subjects who had died of other causes (age range in both groups, 60-89 years), the first proximal segments of the main coronary arteries were examined angiometrically. There were determined the circumference of the arterial lumen and the IM index, expressing the quotient intimal area/medial area. It was found that the magnitude of the IM index characterized, to a certain extent, the degree of severity of atherosclerosis: at IM values higher than the standard means there occurred complicated atherosclerotic lesions, and at lower IM values, only diffuse thickening of coronary arteries. The length of the circumference of the arterial lumen exhibited a positive correlation with the patients' age.
D000368:Aged; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D001344:Autopsy; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged