Dr Cacovean Adrian

ARTERITIS, OVERVIEW

Definitions:

Arteritis: disease that consists of the inflammation of arteries, but also inflammation, degenerative disease (lesion) of arteries (after DEX, The Explanatory Dictionary of the Romanian language).

Arterial disease: generic name for disorders in the arteries.

As seen from the definitions, the term arteritis, like other known terms such as pharyngitis, otitis, etc. and the -itis at the end of the word means inflammatory disease. Arterial disease refers to all arterial diseases pressure, being composed of two words, arterio- (on the arteries) and -patie (disease). These terms, arterial disease and arteritis, overlap and are used by people differently. People without medical training often uses the term arteritis, doctors often use it when talking with the patients and in the literature of speciality (written by practitioners in cardiovascular medicine, or cardiovascular, vascular, cardiology surgeons, and cardiologists interventionists) are used much more terms, for there are many kinds of artery disease.

Pathological Anatomy: arterial diseases are classified and defined by the findings of the pathologoanatomic examination [naked eye examination of the arteries and sections (large slices) through the arteries and thin slices that are examined with the optical or electronic microscope]. Classification is pathologoanatomic and clinical manifestations common to each type of arterial disease are grouped by the common element represented by the predominant pathological change.

Classification of arterial diseases (ARTERITIS):

Atherosclerotic: the main lesion (disorder) is the deposit of fat in the artery wall;

Thrombangeitis obliterans (Buerger disease, Winiwarter-Buerger disease, Winiwarter-Buerger Krankheit disease, thrombangeitis obliterans-TAO): the main lesion is inflammation of the arterial wall;

Takayasu disease (nonspecific aortoarteritis, giant cell arteritis): the main lesion is still inflammation;

Arterial fibrodysplasia: a kind of arterial scar (fibrosis, their feature is a scar tissue), which produces both bottlenecks and dilation of the arteries;

Rare arterial diseases: also produce stenoses (bottlenecks) and dilated arteries. They are themselves classified into:

• Congenital diseases of collagen tissue (strength fibers of the structure of living organisms, make the body will not "make pond" in none of their structures such as arteries, not to deform more than they should). These diseases are:

Marfan syndrome;
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV;
Pseuoxanthoma elasticum;


• Neurofibromatosis;
• Behçet's disease;

Arterial aneurysms (dilation of the arteries);

Clinical elements common to arterial diseases:

• Ischemia: low level of blood irrigating a tissue. This is a consequence of narrowing in the arteries, which cannot bring enough blood in the dependent artery tissue; clinically ischemia manifests depending on the speed with which it is installed and the body organ that is irrigated by the artery in the case; for the legs, this point detailed in chapter Chronic arterial obliterans disease of the legs;
• Compression (for the expansion of the arteries) on the surrounding organs;
• Hemorrhage (for the rupture of the arteries).

NOTE: this is not a course for doctors, but a presentation in terms that can be understood by any reader.
Classification of common arterial ischemia, depending on the mainly affected arteries:

• Peripheral:

Chronic arterial obliterans disease of the legs;
Thrombangeitis obliterans;
Renal vascular disease;

• Central:

Cerebrovascular disease;
Ischemic cardiomyopathy;

• System:

Atherosclerosis, with brain and retina determinations, heart, peripheral, renal, mesenteric determinations; the latter point includes the previous two and may alone be the entire classification, the previous points showing only the arteries most affected.

SIMPLIFICATION: as a continuation the most frequent forms of arterial diseases will be presented: chronic obliterans arterial disease of the legs and thrombangeitis obliterans (real arteritis).

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