HISTOLOGIC FEATURES OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS AND HYPERTENSION FROM AUTOPSIES OF YOUNG INDIVIDUALS IN A DEFINED GEOGRAPHIC POPULATION - THE BOGALUSA HEART-STUDY

Histologic features of arterial intima have been quantified at autopsy by morphometric methods in 66 individuals aged 6-30 years, in whom ca rdiovascular risk factors had been measured prospectively prior to dea th. Measures of serum cholesterol were found to correlate significantl y with the extent of foam cell infiltration seen in paraffin sections and the intensity of lipid staining in frozen sections of the abdomina l and thoracic segments of the aorta. A similar correlation in the cor onary arteries was weak and inconsistent. Blood pressure was significa ntly correlated with foam cells and stainable lipid in the abdominal b ut not the thoracic segment of the aorta. A similar correlation in the coronary arteries was significant, but only in males, and most consis tently in the black males. Intimal thickness of the coronary arteries showed sporadic and weak correlations with blood pressure and lipids; however, a strong and consistent correlation was seen between coronary intimal thickness and hyalinization of renal arterioles. With many st atistical tests carried out on a limited data set, some particular det ails are, no doubt, spuriously significant; however, some persistent p atterns are beginning to emerge. The reproducible findings support the concept that prospective measurements of blood pressure and serum lip ids are associated with a degree of structural characteristics present in children and young adults. Moreover, the observed structural chara cteristics, specifically the deposition of lipids in the intima of cor onary arteries and aorta, are likely to reflect variations in the rate s of progression of atherosclerosis.