PAPILLARY ENDOTHELIAL HYPERPLASIA IN A TEC CORONARY ATHERECTOMY SPECIMEN

Angiography in a 37 year old female with a three week history of typic al crescendo angina found an 80% stenosis of the proximal left anterio r descending (LAD) artery. The patient underwent percutaneous translum inal coronary angioplasty involving TEC artherectomy of the LAD artery . The specimen removed by to have the found papillary endothelial hype rplasia. This is an unusual histological diagnosis that occurs in asso ciation with thrombus. It is rarely found within arterial vessels and has not been reported in a coronary artery. Papillary endothelial hype rplasia is now thought to be a form of organising thrombus, probably d ependent on the production of basic fibroblast growth factor by the en dothelium.