Pathological Studies of Coronary Atherosclerosis

Abstract

(1) Intramuscular coronary arterial (I.M.C.A.) (80-500μ) sclerosis as a cause of myocardial disease was studied pathologically.(2) I.M.C.A. sclerosis was found in high incidence in the cases over 40 years of age, and the tendency of stenosis of the vessels with the lesions increased with age.(3) The lesions was independent of atherosclerosis of the coronary arterial stem or ante-mortem hypertension.(4) Severe lesions of this type was considered to be a cause of definite myocardial lesions without atherosclerosis in the coronary arterial stem, and its clinical feature seemed to be a cardiac decompensation without anginal pain.(5) In addition to atherosclerosis of the coronary arterial stem, I.M.C.A. sclerosis could be an important cause of coronary heart disease, especially in people with a low grade of atherosclerosis such as the Japanese.