ABSTRACT
Atherosclerosis is a disease process characterized by the formation of atheromas resulting in progressive hardening of the arterial wall and loss of vascular elasticity. Different segments of the vascular tree vary in their susceptibility to develop atherosclerotic lesions. Atheromas characteristically have been associated with middle-and large-sized muscular and elastic arteries. There does not exist one definite microcirculatory manifestation of atherosclerosis. Rather, there is an array of different microcirculatory involvements in distinct processes with relevance to atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis is considered to be a disease process of multifactorial etiology and incompletely understood pathophysiology. It has been shown both in clinical tests and by using various imaging techniques that the microcirculation is functionally affected in patients with atherosclerosis of large arteries. Accelerated allograft atherosclerosis was first described in an orthotopic heart dog model and later in human beings. In normal arteries, vaso vasorum are present as an adventitial network.
