Department of Cardiothoracic and Respiratory Sciences, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
In Vivo. 2012 Mar-Apr;26(2):271-5.
Cardiac valves have a very complex microscopic architecture, this is due to the presence of many cell types and to the variegated stroma. From a morphological point of view, both physiological and pathological processes clearly show there to be an anatomic continuity between valve leaflets and perivalvular tissues; indeed, both component should be taken into consideration during thrombotic processes and in fibrous tissue formation. At present, morphological features are well known and classified, while little is known about histogenetic features: fibrous tissue formation and the role of the various types of adhesion molecules and cells which participate in this process still have to be fully elucidated. In the current study, we focused on the histological analysis of the pannus. In particular, we demonstrated that the true connective nature of the exuberant fibrous tissue was entirely composed of collagen/fibronectin fibre bundles and fibroblasts. Moreover we observed that the phlogistic infiltrates were composed of immune cells, mainly represented by CD4(+) and CD8(+) T lymphocytes. Finally we also tried to assess not only the degree of endothelial layer loss, but also the extent of revascularization in the exuberant fibrous tissue.
心脏瓣膜具有非常复杂的微观结构，这是由于存在许多细胞类型和斑驳的基质。从形态学的角度来看，生理和病理过程都清楚地表明瓣膜小叶和瓣周组织之间存在解剖连续性；事实上，在血栓形成过程和纤维组织形成过程中都应该考虑到这两个组成部分。目前，形态学特征已广为人知并进行了分类，而关于组织发生特征的了解甚少：纤维组织形成以及参与该过程的各种类型的黏附分子和细胞的作用仍有待充分阐明。在目前的研究中，我们重点分析了血管翳的组织学特征。具体而言，我们证明了增生性纤维组织的真正结缔性质完全由胶原/纤维连接蛋白纤维束和成纤维细胞组成。此外，我们观察到炎细胞浸润由免疫细胞组成，主要代表为 CD4(+)和 CD8(+)T 淋巴细胞。最后，我们还试图评估不仅是内皮层丧失的程度，而且还评估了增生性纤维组织中的再血管化程度。
