Macroscopic Evaluation of Atherosclerosis in the Arteries: An Autopsy Assessment Tool.

Background: Atherosclerosis, in some cases, is an asymptomatic condition, and it is important to know the degree of arterial impairment caused by plaques and its association with risk factors. Autopsy examination provides understanding of basic disease processes and assessment to data about macroscopic characteristic of atherosclerotic involvement.

Objective: To macroscopically assess and standardize atherosclerotic involvement of aorta, carotid and iliac arteries and compare with age, gender and causes of death.

Width of sulcus and thickness of gyrus in patients with cerebral atherosclerosis: a new tool for the prevention of vascular cognitive impairment.

Background And Purpose: Cerebral atherosclerosis is the main cause of lesions that contribute to vascular cognitive impairment and vascular dementia, followed by arteriosclerosis of small vessels and cerebral amyloid angiopathy. The purpose of this study was to compare the post-mortem radiological alterations of autopsied adults with the macroscopic alterations in the posterior region of these brains in order to establish a relationship between the two forms of analysis and to discuss the relevance of the prevention of vascular cognitive impairment in patients with encephalic atherosclerosis.

Materials And Methods: Thirteen brains were analysed macroscopically to assess the degree of atherosclerosis of the basilar and the posterior cerebral arteries.

Morphometric evaluation of the aortic root in stillborns.

Objective: To describe the dimensions and amount of collagen in the aortic root of autopsied fetuses at different gestational ages.

Material And Methods: 40 samples of aortic roots were selected from autopsied fetuses with gestational ages ranging between 20 and 40 weeks. The thickness and the area of the aortic wall were analyzed on slides stained with Hematoxylin and Eosin, and the collagen was quantified on slides stained with Picrosirius, by using an image analyzing system.

Correlation of lifetime progress of atherosclerosis and morphologic markers of severity in humans: new tools for a more sensitive evaluation.

Objectives: To describe the morphological features of atherosclerosis in the aortas of autopsied patients (ranging from young adults to the elderly), thus providing new tools for a more sensitive morphological evaluation.

Method: We collected 141 aorta samples. We assessed the macroscopic degree of atherosclerosis, thickness of the intima and media, lipid and collagen depositions in the intima, and the infiltration of mast cells into the layers of the aorta.

Morphological and immunological changes in the skin of autopsied women with AIDS.

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is characterized by decreased immunity, making a patient more susceptible to opportunistic infections which can have cutaneous manifestations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the local immunity of the skin through morphological and immunohistochemical analysis. Skin samples of 52 women, 27 without AIDS and 25 with AIDS, autopsied in an academic referral hospital in Brazil were evaluated.