Quantitative analysis of the thickness of arterial walls in complete transposition of the great arteries.
Histometrical analyses were performed to estimate the medial thickness of the pulmonary and renal arteries in 35 autopsy cases of complete transposition of the great arteries (TGA). Twenty-one autopsy cases of ventricular septal defect (VSD) and 33 autopsy cases of normal cardiovascular systems were also examined for comparative analysis. The medial thickness of renal arteries was not influenced by age and remained unchanged throughout life. However, there were significant differences in medial thickness among TGA, VSD and normal cases. Normal and VSD cases showed higher value of medial thickness than TGA cases. The results suggest retarded development of the arterial walls in TGA. A positive correlation was observed between medial thickness and blood pressure in both the pulmonary and renal arterial systems in TGA and VSD. One of the most important findings in the comparative analysis of TGA and VSD was that the media of TGA was more remarkably attenuated than that of VSD at the same blood pressure level in both the pulmonary and renal arterial systems. The results suggest an underdevelopment of arterial media in pulmonary and systemic circulation in TGA and a possible supression of medial hypertrophy in TGA by some unknown factors.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006345:Heart Septal Defects, Ventricular / Q000473:pathology; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000473:pathology*; D012077:Renal Artery / Q000473:pathology*; D014188:Transposition of Great Vessels / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology