Plaque in superficial femoral arteries indicates generalized atherosclerosis and vulnerability to coronary death: An autopsy study

Localization of the predefined artery segments and 4 mm cross-sections in the coronary arteries (left anterior descending [LAD] and the right coronary artery [RCA]: six sections each), the carotid arteries (10 sections in both right and left) and superficial femoral arteries (eight sections in both right and left).

Examples of atherosclerotic plaques (American Heart Association [AHA] lesions ≥type IV¹⁴) identified on hematoxylin and eosin stained sections from (A) the coronary arteries, (B) the carotid arteries, and (C) the superficial femoral arteries. D, Measurement of intima area on a section from a carotid artery stained with Masson’s elastic trichrome. The inner and outer circles are the luminal border and the internal elastic lamina, respectively. The intima area (= plaque area) is calculated by subtracting the inner (luminal) area from the outer area. Black bar length = 1 mm.

Relationship between age and plaque growth illustrated by scatter-plots using the mean of the two largest intimal areas (two arteries per individual) in coronary (A), carotid (B), and superficial femoral (C) arteries. The circles and triangles represent the individual data points. The lines are fitted from the original data using fractional polynomial regression analysis for better visualization of the general pattern; they should solely be interpreted as approximations.

A, Distribution of individuals by cause of death in the different age decades. B and C, Fraction of individuals with plaque by age decade in (B) noncoronary death and (C) coronary death (after the age of 40, all coronary death individuals had plaque in all three arterial beds).