OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to determine whether arterial remodeling and @entity527 are influenced by systemic factors. BACKGROUND: Atherosclerotic luminal narrowing is caused by gradual plaque growth and arterial remodeling. In the acute phase, luminal narrowing may be accelerated by acute @entity715 formation, usually precipitated by rupture of a vulnerable plaque. METHODS: Femoral arteries were obtained from elderly individuals at autopsy. Pairs of @entity731 femoral arteries from 42 individuals were examined. The arteries were divided in 1-cm intervals. Plaque size, the mode of arterial remodeling and histopathologic characteristics of @entity527 (lipid-rich @entity32 ) were compared between right and left femoral arteries obtained from the same individual. A role for systemic factors was assumed if a phenomenon was equally present in both arteries. RESULTS: There was concordance in average plaque size (r(2) = 0.5, p < 0.001), expansive remodeling (kappa = 0.42, p = 0.007) and occurrence of plaques containing a large lipid-rich core (kappa = 0.60, p = 0.001), but no concordance in @entity32 (kappa = 0.067, p = 0.61) between right and left arteries. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that not only the amount of @entity731 , but also arterial remodeling and lipid deposition in plaques, are influenced by systemic factors. The nonhomogeneous distribution of @entity32 in @entity731 arteries supports the hypothesis that @entity32 is locally affected.

Plaque burden, arterial remodeling and XXXX : determined by systemic factors?

@entity715 :: ('MESH:D013927', 'Disease') :: ['thrombus'] @entity32 :: ('MESH:D007249', 'Disease') :: ['inflammation', 'core and plaque inflammation', 'plaque inflammation'] @entity527 :: ('MESH:D058225', 'Disease') :: ['plaque vulnerability'] @entity731 :: ('MESH:D050197', 'Disease') :: ['atherosclerotic', 'atherosclerosis']
@entity527 :: (MESH:D058225,Disease) :: ['plaque vulnerability']
