World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Heart Federation (WHF) Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PBDAY) Study. Histomorphometric investigation of the aorta and coronary arteries in young people from different geographical locations

Background and Aim: At the Morphometric Reference Center of the World Healt h Organization (WHO) and the World Heart Federation (WHF) for the Pathobiol ogical Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PBDAY) Project, histomorph ometric studies were carried out on aortic and coronary artery walls of 590 people ranging from 5 to 34 yr of age, who were of European, American, Asi an and African origin (6 countries) and died of trauma. The aim was to eval uate the mean intimal and medial thickness of arterial tissues. Methods and Results: Computerized operator-assisted morphometry with a semi automatic image analyzer was carried out on 2,893 histological slides (prep ared at the WHO Reference Center in Malmo, Sweden). Our data show that age- dependent trends for prevalence of fatty streaks and atherosclerotic plaque s in arteries are different: prevalence of fatty streaks increases until a plateau is reached, while exponential growth characterizes atherosclerotic plaque prevalence. Age is statistically associated with an increase in mean intimal and medial thickness in all specimens. Conclusions: Mean intimal and medial thickness differs in arterial wall spe cimens of individuals from various geographic locations: persons from count ries with high mortality rates from cardiovascular disease tend to have gre ater mean intimal thickness in youth. Men with hypertension and those who s moke have significantly greater combined means of intimal thickness than no rmotensives and nonsmokers respectively. They also have significantly great er combined means of medial thickness than normotensive men. Histomorphomet ric data provide evidence of the development of atherosclerotic lesions at an early age and relate their progression to ethnic and lifestyle factors a nd to major coronary heart disease risk factors. (C) 1999, Medikal Press.