title: Intimal thickenings in the inferior epigastric artery and coronary bypass.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between the inferior epigastric artery and the development of pathological intimal thickenings.
  
  
  METHODS
  The inferior epigastric artery structure was studied with conventional histology techniques, histochemistry, immunohistochemistry and morphometry.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The inferior epigastric artery develops 2 types of intimal thickenings: physiological and pathological. In our study, the pathological or atherosclerotic thickenings in this artery were not very common: they were present in 28% of the analysed cases. Vessel flow was not affected as shown by the intimal thickness index (I.T.I.) and the lumen reduction index (L.R.I.). The alpha-actin technique confirmed the role of the smooth muscle cells in the genesis of the thickening. Furthermore, histochemistry demonstrated that the extracellular matrix is rich in highly sulphated acid mucopolysaccharides.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The inferior epigastric artery seems to be a good candidate for grafting in coronary revascularization because of the low susceptibility to thickening of its intima and the minimal repercussion on its blood flow.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Anatomy and Histology, School of Medicine, University of Zaragoza, Spain. aicisner@posta.unizar.es
authors.forename: Ana I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Cisneros
authors.forename: Jaime R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Whyte
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: M Dolores
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Alconchel
authors.forename: René
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarrat
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D001026:Coronary Artery Bypass; D019074:Epigastric Arteries / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012737:Sex Factors; D017539:Tunica Intima / Q000033:anatomy & histology*