Nonspecific aorto-arteritis
Pokrovskiĭ, A.V.; Tsireshkin, D.M.
Klinicheskaia Meditsina 56(10): 17-25
1978
ISSN/ISBN: 0023-2149 PMID: 713455 Document Number: 137918
In 11 cases of aortitis autopsied during 1967-1977, 8 presented with hypertension and 6 with congestive heart failure. Descending thoracic and abdominal aorta in the vicinity of renal arteries were the most frequently involved segments. Clinical and morphological features of cardiomyopathy along with aortitis were seen in 4. Microscopically, the involved segments revealed dense fibrosis with mild to moderate mononuclear cell infiltration of adventitia and media in all cases and granulomatous or active phase was not seen in any. In 1 case, lesions identical to those of aortic intima were seen in the pulmonary artery and in the endocardium overlying the left atrium and ventricle. In another, commissural fusion of 2 aortic cusps, Aschoff bodies in the myocardium and retroperitoneal fibromatosis were seen. Lesions in the venous system in the form of superior vena caval thrombosis and thickening of inferior vena cava due to medial hypertrophy were each seen in 1 case. Associated tuberculosis was seen only in 2 cases.