The Quantitative Assessment of Atherosclerotic Lesions

Abstract

For the quantitative assessment of atherosclerotic lesions both in experimental animals and humans, a new method has been developed, in which a common xerox machine is the sole equipment. The arterial specimen is opened longitudinally along the anterior margin, laid flat in a transparent polypropylene bag, and then xeroxed. The outlines of the atherosclerotic lesions are traced onto a translucent graph paper sectioned into 1mm squares. The squares within the lesions' outlines are counted and expressed as a percentage of the whole surface.The xerographic method is rapid and reproducible, and produces a keepable record without changing magnification. It gives comparable or better results than other staining method. Since the arterial specimen is not damaged by fixation or staining, it can be used for subsequent morphological or biochemical studies. Thus, the degree of surface involvement can be corelated with other morphological and biochemical changes in the same arterial samples.