The Coronary Arteries in Early Life in Three Different Ethnic Groups

Abstract

The histologic changes in the coronary arteries in full-term fetuses, infants, and children of 211 consecutive necropsy specimens from Ashkenazy, Yemenite, and Bedouin groups were studied, excluding cardiac deaths. The developmental structural pattern of the coronary arteries is similar in the three ethnic groups. Differences in the intensity and quantity of the structural findings between the sexes and among various ethnic groups are found in early life. The intimal tissue in the Ashkenazy male develops in an eccentric form, has more collagen tissue components, and is more highly developed than in the Ashkenazy female. Structural findings in the internal elastic membrane and the elastic fibers of the intima are less apparent in the Bedouin group, particularly in the female, than in the Ashkenazy and Yemenite groups. Statistical analysis of the quantitative data showed the intima and musculo-elastic layers to be more developed in the Ashkenazy male than in the Yemenite and Bedouin males. However, Ashkenazy males clearly have more intima and musculo-elastic tissue than do the Ashkenazy females. This was not true for Yemenites and was found in only one of three age groups among Bedouins. The relationship between the structural findings in coronary arteries of children under 10 years and the reported prevalence of coronary heart disease in the corresponding adult population in these three different ethnic groups has been pointed out.