RETRACTED ARTICLE: A histopathological analysis of the epidemiology of coronary atherosclerosis: an autopsy study

Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a leading cause of death of women and men worldwide. An estimated 17.5 million people died from this cause in 2005, representing 30 % of all deaths in the world; of these, 7.6 million were caused by coronary heart disease [1]. Aging is associated with structural and functional changes of the vessel wall, which result in decreased vascular distensibility and elevated arterial stiffness [1, 2]. As a consequence of arterial stiffness, systolic blood pressure increases, causing a rise in left ventricular workload and subsequent hypertrophy, and diastolic blood pressure decreases, leading to an impaired coronary perfusion [2, 3]. Chronic systemic inflammation has been implicated in atherogenesis, and may play a role in destabilizing vulnerable coronary plaques, thereby precipitating acute thrombosis and clinical coronary vessel events [4].

Atherosclerosis is a pathologically diverse disease with heterogeneous mechanisms of progression. Irreversible atherosclerotic plaques begin with smooth muscle cell-rich lipid pool lesions referred to as pathologic intimal thickening and it is a lipid-driven, chronic inflammatory disease of the vessel wall in which both innate and adaptive immune responses play a role. Moreover, atherosclerosis is a complex process involving inflammation and cellular proliferation in the arterial wall that is mediated by a variety of growth factors, cytokines, thrombotic factors, and vasoactive molecules [7]. Mature lesions exhibit calcification [5], which is mediated by cells similar to osteoblasts [6, 7]. Infectious agents may be involved in the initiation and/or progression of atherosclerotic lesions [8]. Roles have been suggested for a host of other factors in the etiology of atherosclerosis and of clinical events [9], including hemostatic factors [10, 11], factors related to lipoprotein metabolism, insulin resistance [12], homocysteine [4], immune factors [13], inflammation markers [14], specific fatty acids [15, 16], indicators of oxidative stress, and circulating markers of endothelial function such as cellular adhesion molecules and thrombomodulin [17].

Coronary calcium is a specific marker of atherosclerosis [18] that has been included in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Study [19] and in subgroups in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study and the Cardiovascular Health Study [20]. Coronary artery calcification (CAC) is a linear estimate of the total burden of coronary atherosclerosis that highly correlates with autopsy and intravascular ultrasound assessment [21]. In fact, CAC provides a better estimate of burden of disease than luminal stenosis as determined by angiography [22], since less-obstructive plaques actually give rise to more occlusions than more-obstructive plaques because of their greater number. In fact, 70 % of patients with acute MI have stenosis of less than 50 % in their culprit artery on angiography [23]. Therefore, stress testing (treadmill, nuclear medicine, or echo), which typically diagnoses the physiological effects of high-grade stenosis, will fail to identify a significant number of persons at risk for a hard event [24]. CAC detection by computed tomography directly detects only hard or calcified plaque, but the calcification found essentially serves as a surrogate marker for soft or non-calcified plaque as well, since in the vast majority of patients both types of plaques coexist proportionally [25]. It should be noted that no current imaging test is able to identify plaque that is prone to rupture, and that the presence of calcification in a coronary artery does not necessarily indicate a stenosis at that site; the value of CAC assessment is, rather, in its ability to reflect the overall burden of coronary atherosclerosis.

The objective of the study was to determine the possible association between the histopathological changes of the coronary atherosclerotic lesions and the risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD) and acute myocardial infarction (AMI) using autopsy cases.

This study was conducted from March 2010 to December 2013 in the General Mortuary based at the Tehran forensic medicine center with various causes of death (sudden cardiac death and myocardial infarction).

Histopathologically, moderate to severe atheromatous lesions were observed in the coronary arteries. The subendothelial space was dilated by an extracellular network containing large amounts of fibrin/collagen composite materials in sections stained with H&E.

In some cases, a numerous number of macrophages and occasionally lymphoplasmacyte-rich infiltrates were detected in the subendothelial space with lipid deposition (Fig. 1a and Fig. 2d). The intimal and medial smooth muscle cells usually had swollen nuclei and abundant cytoplasm. In most cases, severe atheromatous lesions containing abundant chronic inflammatory cells infiltration (Lymphocytes were the dominant inflammatory cells) and calcium deposits were frequently observed in the tunica media and adventitia of coronary arteries (Fig. 3d). These histologic changes were consistent with atherosclerotic deposits, early aneurysm formation, and chronic and acute hemorrhage (Fig. 1b and 1d).

Numerous macrophages with foamy cytoplasm infiltrated the tunica intima and media (Fig. 2a). In severe lesions, the tunica media contained enlarged macrophages with foamy cytoplasm, hyaline material, fibrofatty plaque. and mineralized material (Fig. 2a). The lesions were characterized by the deposition of lipids and infiltration of lipid-laden foamy cells in the tunica intima and tunica media, sometimes forming fibrofatty plaques (Fig. 1b), containing abundant cholesterol clefts (Fig. 2d and 3b) and mineralized material. The lesions started in the tunica intima and extended to the tunica media and tunica adventitia. In some cases, lesions were characterized by dense intimal fibrosis with necrotic debris and (Fig. 1c and Fig. 2c) foam cells typical of atherosclerosis. Restenotic lesions were characterized by an increased proportion of loose fibroproliferative tissue, as well as all types of lesion pathology were observed in proximal, mid, distal and branch segments in these 13 cases. However, proximal lesions were more commonly atheromatous plaques (Fig. 3a and 3b) as compared with distal narrowing’s.

Moreover, the combination of densely layered collagen and degenerating tissue was significantly more common in specimens from pathologic lesions, whereas loosely arranged proliferative tissue was significantly more common in tissue from atherosclerotic lesions (Fig. 3c). Furthermore, the study has revealed that ruptured plaques of human autopsied affected were characterized by the presence of a more severe inflammatory infiltrate (Fig. 1a), constituted by monocytes, macrophages, and lymphocyte cells. Areas of necrosis and the existence of giant cells were also more frequent in segments with luminal atherosclerotic plaques. Inflammatory cells were more abundant within segments with luminal atherosclerotic plaques (Fig. 3d). Calcium deposits were more commonly seen in segments containing luminal atherosclerotic plaques (Fig. 2a). Whereas the presence of calcium deposits had an excellent specificity of luminal atherosclerotic plaques, the majority of atherosclerotic plaques (Fig. 3a and 3b) were not calcified, and hence, sensitivity was much lower. Although we had not stained the internal elastic lamina because of extreme superficiality of the calcified areas, we supposed that most of them were intimal in location. In the present study, calcium in the coronary plaque is often fragmented and may be located deep in the plaque or close to the surface (Fig. 3c). However the frequency of calcified nodules (with surface thrombus), a form of calcification that results in irregular nodules of calcium (Fig. 2b), is higher in coronary disease.

Finally, the most important findings were the presence of pseudocalcium–calcium (pCa–Ca) deposits and arterial wall degeneration. Proliferative lesions have been found in the coronary arteries of thirteen specimens of human autopsy. In the present study, 69.34 % of male showed atherosclerosis and 30.66 % of female showed atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis is a disease of large- and medium-sized muscular arteries, characterized by inflammation of smooth muscle cells and formation of atherosclerotic plaques composed of necrotic cores; calcium deposits; and an accumulation of modified lipids, endothelial cells, leukocytes, and foam cells [26‐31]. Many components of the vascular, metabolic, and immune systems are involved in this process [27, 30, 32‐36]. Buildup of material and infiltrates leads to vascular remodeling, acute and chronic luminal obstruction, abnormalities of blood flow, and diminished oxygen supply to target organs [27, 28, 34]. In human beings, atherosclerosis is the most common pathologic process leading to cardiovascular disease [34‐36].

The autopsy study provides a means of understanding the basic process which sets a stage for clinically significant atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. There is no valid method of sampling of living population. It was, therefore, considered that death suspected due to cardiovascular pathology, probably provide the best sample of the living population for studying atherosclerosis.

In this study, the histological examination of the serially sectioned coronary arteries from 13 men and women who died suddenly and unexpectedly revealed the frequent presence of early atherosclerotic lesions in 13 cases. The lesions are marked by infiltration in the intima and media of coronary artery, monocytes/foam cells, rich-lymphocytes and deposits of mineral material, mainly composed of cellular matrix network, as well as fragmentation of the elastic fiber system.

Age is a powerful risk factor for coronary heart disease. The development of atherosclerosis increases markedly with age up to an age of about 65, regardless of sex and ethnic background [37, 38]. The autopsy findings of coronary arthrosclerosis in different reports are variable in relation of age and sex. In an autopsy study by Thomas et al. [39] among 124 men (age range, 50 to 69 years) who died of non - cardiac causes, 10.3 % had one-vessel, 2.8 % had two-vessel, and 1.4 % had three-gmale in age group between 52 and 83 years. This prevalence of coronary atherosclerosis is higher but supported by other investigators. The coronary atherosclerosis is also increasing with rapid pace in older age group also.

Autopsies performed on casualties of the Korean War revealed coronary artery involvement in 77.3 % of the hearts studied, and data after the Vietnam War noted the presence of atherosclerosis in 45 % of casualties with severe disease in 5 %. One hundred eleven victims of non-cardiac trauma underwent pathologic examination of their coronary arteries to estimate the presence and severity of coronary atherosclerosis. Sudden coronary death (SCD) in older individuals is generally associated with extensive coronary atherosclerosis, although it may be the first manifestation of ischemic heart disease. In younger age-groups, SCD may occur in the presence of less severe disease [40].

Low-density lipoprotein remains the most important risk factor for development of atherosclerosis in humans and has been also associated with atherosclerosis in animals [27, 29, 34, 35]. However, immune and inflammatory mechanisms of atherosclerosis have gained tremendous interest in the past 20 years [28‐30, 35, 36]. New data suggest an important role for chemokine’s and chemokine receptors in atherosclerosis and highlight a network of cytokines that modulate the immune response and inflammation of the arterial wall [30, 31]. Because it has been shown in humans that all phases of atherosclerosis are regulated by inflammatory mechanisms, the possible impact of chronic inflammation in the development of atherosclerosis in animals and the importance of preventive diagnosis should be considered [30, 31].

In our study, an increased number of inflammatory cells, the presence of giant cells and areas of necrosis and calcification were more frequent in segments containing atherosclerotic plaques, consistent with findings from studies on atherosclerosis of coronary arteries [41‐43]. Moreover, lymphocytes were more abundant in sections containing atherosclerotic plaques. However, contrary to what has been reported from the analysis of arterial plaques [43], in our study, lymphocytes were the predominant inflammatory cells in the majority of atherosclerotic plaques. The findings of a study by van der Wal et al. [44] also suggested a predominance of lymphocytes in venous compared with arterial plaques. Although the reasons for a predominance of lymphocytes in vessel atherosclerotic lesions need further investigation, it has been suggested that dendritic cells and lymphocytes co-accumulate in atherosclerotic vein grafts, suggesting an immune-mediated antigen presentation to lymphocytes [45]. It might be the case that in human venous plaques, lymphocytes are dominant inflammatory cells that render the venous plaques more vulnerable to rupture or disruption because of interferon- production, which reduces the fibrous cap thickness [41, 42].

In the present study, it was observed that nine cases (69.34 %) were males and 4 (30.66 %) were females, which are concordant with other researchers findings that showed 74.8 % males and 24.2 % females, and another study found 66.5 % males and 33.5 % females [46, 47]. In the present study, 69.34 % of male showed atherosclerosis & 30.66 % of female showed atherosclerosis which are concordant with the study of Thej et al., showed 62 % were males & 50 % were females in Indian population [48]. Study reported by Yazdi SAT et al., showed 73 % males and 61 % females had atherosclerosis in a population of Iran. This difference is again explained by the demographic, geographic, racial, lifestyle & dietary variation in population [49] Singh H et al., have reported the incidence of atherosclerosis in the coronaries to be 68 % in males and 27 % in females [50].

Coronary artery calcium (CAC) has been demonstrated to be associated with the risk of coronary heart disease. Our study showed that the information provided here can be used to examine whether a patient has a high CAC score relative to others with the same age, gender, and race/ethnicity who do not have clinical cardiovascular disease or treated diabetes. Rumberger et al. have made additional recommendations for specific cut points for mild, moderate, and severe coronary artery calcium that have been used frequently in clinical practice [51]. The ACC/ In contrast, a “high” calcium score indicates greater likelihood of disease and may be consistent with moderate to high risk of a cardiovascular event during that time period. However, some post-mortem pathologic analyses of coronary arteries reported that calcium was a frequent feature of plaque rupture [52, 53]. Other reports have been shown that ruptured plaques were less likely to be calcified in acute coronary syndrome patients [54, 55]. Thus, coronary calcium is not a marker for neither unstable nor stable plaques.

If calcium does have a different impact on risk depending on race, then the observed CAC should be evaluated relative to subjects of the same age, gender, and race/ethnicity, as presented here. It is premature to use percentiles from either this study or others to make medical decisions. In other words, at this time, the information presented here cannot necessarily be used to conclude that a patient is “high risk” but can indicate whether they have a high calcium score relative to others with the same age, gender, and race/ethnicity [56‐59].

Atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease are huge health concerns in Iran. They constitute the largest single cause of death and exact a financial burden of billions of dollars annually. It is well known that lifestyle modification and drug therapy in selected individuals can reduce the risk of hard cardiac events, but current Framingham risk assessment is suboptimal.

Our study suggested that although calcification is found more frequently in advanced lesions, it may also occur in small amounts in earlier lesions, which appear in the second and third decades of life. Histopathological investigation has shown that plaques with microscopic evidence of mineralization are larger and associated with larger coronary arteries than plaques or arteries without calcification. The relation of arterial calcification to the probability of plaque rupture is unknown. Although the amount of coronary calcium correlates with the amount of atherosclerosis in different individuals and to a lesser extent in segments of the coronary tree in the same individuals, it is not known if the quantity of calcification tracks the quantity of atherosclerosis over time in the same individuals. Further research is needed to better elucidate the relation of calcification to the pathogenesis of both atherosclerosis and plaque rupture.

Finally, histopathological studies provide the most accurateclues to a better understanding of human coronary artery disease. With better insight into disease pathophysiology, novel interventions could be introduced to improve care and future outcomes for patients undergoing coronary artery disease.