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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 1995;15:912-917.)
© 1995 American Heart Association, Inc.

Articles

Predilection of Atherosclerosis for the Inner Curvature in the Femoral Artery

A Digitized Angiography Study

Ö. Smedby; J. Johansson; J. Mölgaard; A. G. Olsson; G. Walldius; U. Erikson

From the Department of Diagnostic Radiology (Ö.S., U.E.), Uppsala University, Uppsala; the Center of General Medicine (J.J.), Karolinska Hospital, Stockholm; the Department of Internal Medicine (J.M., A.G.O.), Linköping University, Linköping; and the King Gustaf V Research Institute (G.W.), Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.

Correspondence to Örjan Smedby, Dr Med Sci, Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Uppsala University Hospital, S-751 85 Uppsala, Sweden.

Abstract The degree of atherosclerosis in the inner and outer curvature of the femoral artery was studied by using digitized angiography and edge-roughness calculations in 301 hyperlipidemic patients. When the two edges of the vessel were compared no significant difference was seen, but when the local curvature was taken into account, inner curves were found to be more atherosclerotic than outer curves, and both inner and outer curves were more affected than straight segments. The same pattern was encountered in subpopulations defined by clinical or blood lipid criteria. The suggested explanation is that flow disturbances such as low shear rates or separated flow, which tend to arise along the inner curvature, promote the development of atherosclerosis.

Key Words: atherosclerosis, pathogenesis • roughness • curvature • shear rate • flow separation

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