Composition of atherosclerotic plaques in the epicardial coronary arteries in juvenile (type I) diabetes mellitus.
The composition of atherosclerotic plaques in 331 five-mm segments of the 4 major (left main, left anterior descending, left circumflex, and right) epicardial coronary arteries of 8 patients with juvenile (mean age at onset, 9 years; mean age at death, 29 years) diabetes mellitus was determined by computerized planimetric analysis. Analysis of all coronary segments disclosed that the plaques consisted primarily of dense (53%) and cellular (38%) fibrous tissue. Pultaceous debris (7%), foam cells (1.2%) and calcific deposits (0.7%) occupied a small percentage of the plaques. Thus, 91% of the coronary plaques in these young diabetic patients consisted of fibrous tissue and nearly all of the remaining 9% consisted of lipid deposits. Analysis of composition according to degrees of cross-sectional luminal narrowing revealed marked increases in dense fibrous tissue (from 31 to 74%), pultaceous debris (from 3 to 12%), and calcific deposits (from 0% to 3%) as the cross-sectional area narrowing increased from < or = 25% to > 75%. Compared with older patients with fatal coronary artery disease, the patients with juvenile diabetes had more dense fibrous tissue and pultaceous debris and less calcific deposits.
Mautner
S L
SL
Pathology Branch, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Lin
F
F
Roberts
W C
WC
D000328:Adult; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male