Autopsy Studies in Atherosclerosis

Abstract

Gross lesions of atheroselerosis in many arterial sites were graded in 500 consecutive autopsies in a general hospital. The grading system used took into account both the total area of intimal involvement and the severity of individual lesions. The first report analyzes the distribution and severity of atherosclerosis in the 347 men and women of the study group who died without morphologic evidence of atherosclerotic catastrophe in the heart, aorta, or brain. The second report describes the atherosclerotic lesions in patients who died with evidence of atherosclerotic catastrophe. The third report carries out a similar investigation in those subjects who presented evidence of obesity, hypertension, nephrosclerosis, and rheumatic heart disease.