[Morphometric characteristics of the mast cell population in the walls of the coronary arteries in acute forms of ischemic disease].

Coronary artery walls in 18 autopsy cases of myocardial infarction, 18 cases of acute coronary failure, 21 cases of violent death of presenile and senile subjects with age-specific atherosclerosis and 25 cases of violent death of healthy young subjects were studied histometrically. Maximal content of mast cells in the coronary artery adventitia was found in the group of young healthy persons, minimal being in the group of old healthy persons. The count of mast cells in subjects who died of myocardial infarction and acute coronary failure was higher than in those with age-specific atherosclerosis, but lower than in young healthy persons. The number of mast cells in the walls of coronary arteries correlates with the degree of their lipidosis and to a less extent with the degree of plasmorrhagia.