Coronary sclerosis in the horse
Pauli, B.
Schweizer Archiv für Tierheilkunde 115(11): 517-526
1973
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-7281 PMID: 4759791 Document Number: 66512
Arteriosclerotic lesions found in intramural coronary arteries of the left anterior and posterior papillary muscles were described and quantitated by the 'heart score' method of Ratcliffe & Snyder (1967) in 20 horses aged 8-12 years. The scores ranged between 1-15 and 1-95 (mild to moderate). The changes were usually more frequent and more severe in the posterior papillary muscle. The intimal thickenings of the intramural arteries were usually circumferential, with rare plaque formation, and consisted of smooth muscle cells and their products, such as acid mucopolysaccharides, elastic and collagen fibres. Arteriosclerotic lesions in adult horses appeared to be identical to those in other species, except for the occasional asteroid intimal degeneration of the small intramural coronary arteries in the horse. Pathogenesis and aetiology were discussed. [20 photomicrographs].