Arteriosclerosis in the Intramural and Extramural Portions of Coronary Arteries in the Human Heart

Abstract

A total of 276 hearts from unselected autopsies in the Barnes Hospital and St. Louis City Hospital were examined. Among these were 15 patients with intramural coronary arteries an incidence of 5.4%. All but two of the intramural coronary arteries exhibited atheromata and narrowing of the lumen of varying degrees. The other extramural coronary arteries in these hearts showed atherosclerotic involvement also. None of the extramural arteries had complete absence of atherosclerotic changes. Eight of them had marked arteriosclerotic narrowing and 4 of these had thombi occluding a portion of the vessel. Our data does not permit the conclusion that there is any protection from atherosclerotic changes by the covering of a major portion of a coronary artery by myocardium.