Abundance of plaque microvessels is associated with constrictive remodeling in angioplastied human coronary arteries.
This study investigated if specific histological features correlate with remodeling in human coronary arteries treated by balloon angioplasty (PTCA). Segments of perfusion-fixed coronary arteries that had undergone antemortem PTCA were obtained from 15 patients and primary atherosclerotic (CAD) lesions obtained from these hearts were used as control lesions. Arterial segments were serially divided to yield 108 sub-segments for PTCA lesions and 38 sub-segments for CAD lesions. A linear regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between 14 histological parameters and an arbitrary index of compensatory arterial enlargement, the external elastic lamina (EEL) index (EELI), defined as the ratio of the area encompassed by the EEL to the sum of the intimal area (IA) + medial area (MA). In PTCA arteries the abundance of plaque microvessels negatively correlated with the EELI (p=0.04), but in CAD arteries there was no relationship between histology and the EELI. The abundance of plaque microvessels correlates with the magnitude of constriction in coronary artery lesions subjected to PTCA. This study provides descriptive insights into the biology of remodeling in human coronary arteries after angioplasty, and suggests that the endothelium may play an important role.
Assiri
A
A
University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ontario, Canada.
Veinot
J P
JP
Woodend
K
K
Kimura
T
T
Nobuyoshi
M
M
Schwartz
S M
SM
O'Brien
E R
ER
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002455:Cell Division; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged