Spontaneous atherosclerotic plaque and obstruction of distal anastomosis in femoral artery. Comparative morphologic study.

The morphology of unaffected intima, atherosclerotic plaque, and postoperative obstructions of the distal anastomosis of the human femoral artery was studied by light and immunofluorescence microscopy. It was established that a focal thickening at the site of the distal anastomosis is identical with an atherosclerotic plaque in structure and localization of certain extracellular matrix components. A distinctive feature of the intimal thickening at the site of the distal anastomosis is the presence of an organized thrombus. These data suggest that obstruction of the distal anastomosis occurs due to the development of an atherosclerotic plaque complicated by an organized thrombus.