Local arterial wall injury caused by thromboemboli.

The changes in the walls of pulmonary and systemic arteries caused by overlying thromboemboli were studied at autopsy. A spectrum of alterations was observed, from mural inflammation to arterial false and dissecting aneurysms and rupture. The arterial abnormalities were confined to the region immediately beneath the thrombus. Although the pathogenesis of the arterial lesions is uncertain, mural ischemia secondary to the overlying thromboemboli is the most probable explanation. The similarity of the lesions in many instances to those of atherosclerosis also suggests that arterial mural thrombosis may be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis.