Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: A healthy arterial wall comprises three layers: the adventitia, the media and the \nintima (Figure 1.1, left side). The adventitia is the outermost layer, mainly \ncomposed of collagen. The media underlies the adventitia and is the middle \nlayer in the arterial wall. It is made up of concentrically arranged smooth muscle \ncells and collagen fibers. The intima is the innermost layer. It is a thin sheet of \nendothelial cells attached to a basal membrane. \nAtherosclerosis is a systemic, inflammatory disease of the arterial system \ncharacterized by local thickening of vessel walls. Thickened arterial segments \nare called atherosclerotic plaques (Figure 1.1, right side). During atherogenesis - \nprogression of an atherosclerotic plaque- the major changes take place in the \nintima due to infiltration of lipids and inflammatory cells from the luminal side, \nsmooth muscle cell migration and proliferation, extracellular matrix deposition, \nand intraplaque hemorrhage. From a thin cell layer, the intima transforms into a \nthick layer (Figure 1.1) with the possible structural components being smooth \nmuscle cells, collagen and elastin fibers, and lipids. Besides changes in the \nintima, atherosclerosis causes differentiation in the media and adventitia layers. \nFibrosis, atrophy and inflammation may take place in the media and adventitia \nduring atherogenesis.
Author: Ali C. Akyildiz
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1756915890