Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 10, 2026

Ultrasound Assessment of Endothelial-Dependent Flow-Mediated Vasodilation of the Brachial Artery in Clinical Research
Published on: October 22, 2014
Ultrastructural changes in a case of mucoid degeneration of the brachial artery
1Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
Abstract:
An electron microscopic (EM) description of mucoid degeneration of the brachial artery in a 67 year old man is presented. In this case, the affected artery showed mucoid degeneration of the intima and media circumferentially, dissecting and destroying the muscle fibres. Ultrastructurally, mucoid degenerating muscle cells showed numerous large mucin-containing vesicles in the cytoplasm. Cells were widely separated by large accumulation of mucoid material, which appeared to penetrate the extracellular collagen fibre bundles. Most of the nuclei of the smooth muscle cells displayed typical necrotic changes undergoing dissolution or having already broken up into discrete fragments. This case of intimo-medial degeneration (IMMD) suggests that the condition could arise spontaneously anywhere in the inner coats of the arterial system away from the vessels that are close to synovial joints. This is a rare presentation of IMMD of arteries, which has been described mainly in the aorta and its major branches.
Related Concept Videos
Arteries of the Upper Limbs
Atherosclerosis I: Introduction
Peripheral Arterial Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Evaluation
Aneurysm I: Introduction

