Experimental 'work-arteriosclerosis' / by Oskar Klotz.

  • Klotz, Oskar, 1878-1936.
Date:
1908
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Experimental 'work-arteriosclerosis' / by Oskar Klotz. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    superficial and circularly disposed layer of connective tissue (possibly of endothelial origin), while beneath this was a thick layer of longi- tudinally disposed muscle fibres, with extensive fatty degeneration in them. In this deeper layer of the intima many of the muscle cells had entirely disappeared, leaving behind a granular debris mixed with minute fatty granules. In some places this thickened intima occupied one-half the circumference of the vessel. We have, therefore, in this experiment been able to reproduce by physical means two kinds of changes in the arterial walls. The one is isolated in the media without intimal change and consists of a purely degenerative process, with death of the muscular elements and calcifi- cation of the involved areas, including the elastic fibres. The other change is isolated to the intima, and consists mainly of a proliferation of the tissue, while a secondary fatty degeneration has occurred in the newly formed tissue. In the lesions of the first type involving the media there has also occurred the production of aneurysm. This, as we have previously pointed out, is the common result of severe degenerative changes in the media. I believe, therefore, that we may conclude from these experiments that work plays a very important role in the production of arterio- sclerosis of different characters, and that even in vessels of different histological structure sclerotic changes can be brought about by increas- ing the work of the artery. And further, as a consequence to certain changes, degenerative in character, taking place as the result of in- creased work in tjhe media of the vessels, aneurysms may result. We understand from Professor J. J. Mackenzie that Dr. Harvey^ of Toronto, working at Cambridge, has by different methods of increasing arterial pressure obtained marked changes in the arteries. As to the character of these changes, we have no information beyond that they are arteriosclerotic. We gather from Professor Mackenzie’s letter that this paper has just been presented to the Royal Society of London.