World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Heart Federation (WHF) Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PBDAY) Study. Lipid and raised lesion distribution in the right coronary artery of young people

Background and Aim: As part of the WHO-WHF PBDAY Study, we examined the pro ximal segment of the right coronary artery (RCA) (n=469) of 5-34 yr-old oth erwise healthy trauma victims from 15 countries to establish the topographi cal relation of atherosclerotic lesions to age, sex and geographical locati on. Methods and Results: Topography and extent of lesions were analyzed by imag e processing and probability-of-occurrence maps of lipid lesions (mostly fa tty streaks) and raised lesions on the intimal surface of the RCA were prod uced. Extension of lesions varied considerably between the groups and betwe en individuals in the same group. The prevalence of lipid lesions was 68% ( 319/469) compared with 100% in the aorta. The prevalence of raised lesions was 22% (102/469) compared with 7% and 26% in the thoracic and abdominal ao rta. Females had more lipid lesions, whereas raised lesions prevailed in ma les. Lipid lesion extent increased with age in both sexes. Conclusions: High probability-of-occurrence areas for lipid and raised lesi ons prevailed in the proximal 5 cm of the intimal surface of the RCA (myoca rdial side) and were greatly overlapping. Regression analysis between lipid and raised lesion extent in the thoracic or abdominal norm and the RCA sho wed no correlations between the lipid lesion extent, whereas significant co rrelations were found between the raised lesion extent in the RCA and the t horacic aorta only, showing that the two types of lesion behave differently in different anatomical locations. (C) 1999, Medikal Press.