HWN Suggests

Arteriosclerosis: Rethinking the Current Classification

The name arteriosclerosis is a term of Greek origin meaning “hardening of the arteries.” Though arteriosclerosis is a phenomenon believed to be prevalent since ancient Egypt, it only began to catch the attention of investigators in the latter half of the last millennium. In 1575, Fallopius writes of “a degeneration of arteries into bone.” These “ossified arteries” were commonly noted by anatomists of that period. Johann Friedrich Crell, in 1740, elucidated the phenomenon by asserting that the coronary artery hardenings were, in fact, not bony, but derived from pus. Fifteen years later, von Haller was first to identify such a lesion as an “atheroma,” a term used in Greek literature to describe…

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 Arteriosclerosis: facts and fancy

In spite of the lesions' importance, there has been little interest in terms, classification, and in our opinion, the true nature of some of the entities under the rubric of “arteriosclerosis”.

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The pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis

Arteriosclerosis is a disease of the arteries affecting primarily the intimal coat and characterized in general by increasing accumulations of lipids and increasing fibrous thickening in localized areas of the intima. The frequent occurrence of coalescence of individual lesions and of further degenerative changes in them is well recognized.