The relation of antemortem factors to atherosclerosis at autopsy. The Puerto Rico Heart Health Program.
Year: 1981
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Among 9824 Puerto Rican men, aged 35-79, participating in a prospective study of cardiovascular risk factors, there were 970 deaths during the period 1965-1977. About 14%, or 139, of these deaths had a protocol autopsy following the procedures of the International Atherosclerosis Project. The percentage of involvement with raised atherosclerotic lesions in the coronary arteries was higher in the urban deceased than in the rural. The coronary heart disease death rate was also found to be higher in urban than in rural men in this population. Serum cholesterol and systolic blood pressure measured from up to 8 years before death were related both to raised lesions in the coronary arteries and in the aorta. Age and previous smoking status were associated with lesions only in the aorta. These results lend support for an etiologic relationship between serum cholesterol and blood pressure and the atherosclerotic process.
Source: PubMed Central
Language: English
Subfield: Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1509528851