Browsing by Subject "Internal thoracic artery"

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    A comprehensive morphometric analysis of the internal thoracic artery with emphasis on age, gender and left-to-right specific differences
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2013) Labudović Borović, Milica; Borović, Saša; Marinković-Erić, Jelena; Todorović, Vera; Puškaš, Nela; Kočica, Mladen; Radak, Ðorde; Lačković, Vesna
    Aims of the study. The aim of this analysis was the morphometric description of the internal thoracic artery (ITA) with an emphasis on age, gender and left-to-right specific differences, as well as on age and atherosclerosis related changes of the elastic skeleton. Methods. Forty eight arteries were obtained during forensic autopsies from 32 persons who had died of non-vascular causes. The following morphometric parameters were analyzed: thickness of the intima, the medial layer and the wall, the intima-to-media ratio and the elastic skeleton parameters. Results. The intima thickness increases significantly with aging (ANOVA F=34.061, p<0.001), as does the intima-to-media ratio (ANOVA F=10.831, p<0.001). With aging, there is a significant increase in the thickness of the media (F=56.519; p<0.001) and of the wall (F=34.094; p<0,001). There is a significant increase in the media thickness during the development of atherosclerosis in the ITA (ANOVA F=11.848, p<0.001). No significant difference was found when these data were analyzed based on the left-to-right principle or depending on gender of the patients. However, the analysis of the elastic skeleton parameters indicated that the combined effects of aging, atherosclerosis and male gender lead to the degeneration of the elastic skeleton of the ITA. Conclusion. The grade of atherosclerosis gradually increases with aging as shown by morphometric analysis. The increase in the medial layer thickness suggests the potential for positive remodeling of the ITA during aging and atherosclerosis. The left/right position has no influence on morphometric parameters of the ITA, while male gender affects parameters of the elastic skeleton.
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    The internal thoracic artery as a transitional type of artery: a morphological and morphometric study
    (Murcia : F. Hernández, 2010) Labudović Borović, Milica; Borović, Saša; Perić, Miodrag; Vuković, Petar; Marinković, Jelena; Todorovic, Vera; Radak, Ðorde; Lackovic, Vesna
    Coronary artery by-pass grafting (CABG) with arterial grafts is widely accepted as the procedure of choice in the treatment of coronary ischemic disease. It brings back focus on morphological studies of arteries used as conduits in this procedure. One of the most frequently used CABG grafts is the internal thoracic artery with an excellent graft prognosis and patency rate. The aim of the study was a detailed morphological and morphometric description of the internal thoracic artery with an emphasis on its basic histological structure and its changes in aging and atherosclerosis. Therefore, 42 full-length arteries were obtained during forensic autopsies from 27 persons, aged between 20 and 81 years, who had died from non-vascular causes. The arteries were classified into three different age groups. Analysis of the serial arterial segments has shown that the internal thoracic artery is an artery of the transitional type whose media is organized into two layers: the internal, muscular layer and the external layer with spirally oriented elastic lamellae and smooth muscle cells in between. The number of elastic lamellae progressively decreases throughout the length of the examined arteries. As opposed to previous assumptions, we have proven that the grade of atherosclerosis is independent of the number of elastic lamellae in the external media. Perfectly formed elastic lamellae are not a persistent feature of the internal thoracic artery, as previously claimed. We have confirmed that the thickness of elastic lamellae decreases, while the number and the size of their fenestrations steadily increase with aging