Atherosclerosis in the Bantu

Abstract

The South African Bantu rarely manifests clinical or pathological evidence of ischemic atherolclerotic disease of the heart or limbs. Cerebrovascular accidents, including both hemorrhage and thrombosis, are however relatively frequent. A post-mortem study was undertaken of the aorta and all the major arteries of the heart, neck, limbs, head and abdomen in 32 consecutive necropsies on patients over the age of 50 years dying of natural causes. The degree and extent of atherosclerosis was assessed according to the method of Gore and Tejada. It was found that cerebral atherosclerosis was not more severe than coronary atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis was rarely seen in the limb vessels and the distribution of atherosclerosis in any one subject was patchy in nature, the degree in one vessel often bearing no relationship to the degree in another. This finding suggests that the level of circulating blood lipids is not the only factor responsible for the development of atherosclerosis and that arteries may respond independently. The degree and extent of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries and aorta were far less severe than in a series from the U. S. A.