[Early stages of atherosclerosis. The morphogenesis of lipid spots in the aorta of children].

A comprehensive morphobiochemical study of aortal lipoidosis and a study of the serum lipid content were conducted in children. Fifty aortas from children who had died as a result of accidents and diseases at the age of 4 to 16 and the blood serum from 350 healthy children served as the material for the investigation. The development of aortal lipid spots in children was shown to be associated with lipid accumulation, particularly cholesterin ethers in smooth muscle cells of the intima. Lipid accumulation was accompanied by the proliferation of smooth muscle cells, phenomena of enhanced collagen- and elastin formation in parallel with the destruction of elastic fibers and membranes expressed quantitatively in an increased content of collagen and a decreased content of elastin. Aortal lipid spots were inhomogeneous depending on children age. "Juvenile" and "intermediate" types were singled out. Lipid spots of the "intermediate" type found in children over 10 may be of certain importance in the development of atherosclerotic arterial changes. There was no correlation between the frequency of hypercholesterinemia and the frequency of aortal lipoidosis in children.