1. Histological Characteristics of Intracranial Atherosclerosis in a Chinese Population: A Postmortem Study
- Author
-
Yang, Wen Jie, Fisher, Mark, Zheng, Lu, Niu, Chun Bo, Paganini-Hill, Annlia, Zhao, Hai Lu, Xu, Yun, Wong, Ka Sing, Ng, Ho Keung, and Chen, Xiang Yan
- Subjects
Biomedical and Clinical Sciences ,Neurosciences ,Clinical Sciences ,Cerebrovascular ,Cardiovascular ,Brain Disorders ,Atherosclerosis ,Aging ,intracranial atherosclerosis ,pathology ,anterior circulation ,posterior circulation ,intraplaque hemorrhage ,thrombus ,Anterior circulation ,Intracranial atherosclerosis ,Intraplaque hemorrhage ,Pathology ,Posterior circulation ,Thrombus ,adult ,aged ,Article ,atherosclerotic plaque ,autopsy ,basilar artery ,brain atherosclerosis ,brain calcification ,brain hemorrhage ,Chinese ,clinical article ,disease severity ,female ,histopathology ,human ,human tissue ,immunohistochemistry ,macrophage migration ,male ,middle aged ,middle cerebral artery ,neovascularization ,occlusive cerebrovascular disease ,vertebral artery ,Psychology ,Clinical sciences ,Biological psychology - Abstract
BackgroundAnterior and posterior circulation atherosclerosis differ in vascular risk factors and stroke mechanisms. However, few studies have compared the pathological features between these lesions. Using a series of intracranial artery specimens, we characterized the intracranial atherosclerotic lesions and compared pathological features among different arteries of the intracranial vasculature.MethodsIntracranial large arteries of 32 consecutively recruited autopsy cases of Chinese adults aged 45 years or older were examined pathologically using routine histology and immunostaining, to characterize the pathological features of the atherosclerotic lesions. We analyzed middle cerebral arteries (MCAs) (both left and right), vertebral arteries (VAs) (side more affected), and basilar arteries (BAs).ResultsProgressive atherosclerotic lesions were present in 91(71%) of the 128 arteries examined. Features of complicated plaques were infrequently detected: plaque hemorrhage was encountered in 12%, neovasculature in 12%, lumen thrombi in 13%, macrophage infiltration in 20%, and calcification in 25% of arteries. Luminal narrowing of MCA was the most severe, followed by VA; the BA least stenotic (37 ± 25 vs. 30 ± 24 vs. 20 ± 20%, all p
- Published
- 2017