[Diminished vascular density in the aortic wall. Morphological and functional characteristics of atherosclerosis].
OBJECTIVE
To determine disproportion in thicknesses of the vascular wall and vasa vasorum in eight fragments of human aorta because of the irregular distribution of atherosclerosis in arterial walls.


METHODS
The length and thickness of the wall and its layers were measured and the vasa vasorum were conted. Vascular density, considered as the number of vessels per square millimeter in healthy and diseased areas, was calculated along with mean value, variance, standard deviation and the confidence interval for values and null hypotesis. Variances were analyzed, and the comparative and paired "t" test was applied.


RESULTS
There were differences in thicknesses of the healthy (27 :m) and diseased (120.5 :m) intima (p < 0.001) and between the healthy (125.2 :m) and diseased (102.3 :m) media (P < 0.001). Vascular density was higher in healthy fragments (mean +/- Cl 99% = 4.40 +/- 1.4 vs 2.20 +/- 0.8, = < 0.001 for Ha; 0 +/- 1.0775 for Ho; paired "t" 2.1 +/- 1.1, P < 0.01), and higher compared to the healthy intima area (31.6 vs 5.1, P < 0.01). There were no differences compared to the media layer area. The relation between the number of vessels and the length of the vascular segments was greater in the healthy fragments (mean +/- Cl 95% = 4.9 +/- 1.02 vs 3.5 +/- 0.68; 1.4 difference, P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Vascular density is lower in the atherosclerotic aortic wall than in the healthy aorta and this could initiate the pathologic process.
Acoltzin Vidal
Cuauhtémoc
C
Centro de Investigaciones Biomédicas, Universidad de Colima. jose_rafael_c_acoltzin@yahoo.com
Maldonado Villaseñor
Irma
I
Rodríguez Cisneros
Leonardo
L
Muñiz Murguía
J Jesús
JJ
D000368:Aged; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000473:pathology; D001018:Aortic Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D001161:Arteriosclerosis / Q000473:pathology*; D002102:Cadaver; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged