Clinical picture of arteriolosclerosis

Arteriolosclerosis is a generalised systemic vascular disease which is characterised by hyalinisation of intima (hyalinosis) as well as proliferation and hypertrophy of the media in the arteriolar part of the arterial system (so-called benign arteriolosclerosis). However, the patients suffering from accelerated and malign hypertension develop also fibrinoid necrosis (so-called malign arteriolosclerosis, arteriolonecrosis). Arteriolosclerosis as well as other similar stenotic (obliterating, obstructive, occlusive) diseases of the arterial system, have one single common consequence--ischemia. Currently, angio-organic ischemic syndromes in the whole world most frequently result from atherosclerosis which, however, is not the only nosologic unit of the group of arterial diseases having the tendency to develop arterial wall sclerosis. The latter group is briefly referred to as arteriosclerosis. In addition to atherosclerosis, this group includes also Mönckeberg's medial arteriosclerosis, diabetic angiopathy and arteriolosclerosis. The authors of this study, on the basis of their analysis of their own large set of patients (71,662 angiologic consultant examinations performed during the period of 25 years of the existence of the Angiologic Department of the Medical Faculty Hospital of Comenius University in Bratislava) attract attention to the fact that the clinical picture of this disease is multiform, and that it occurs frequently in clinical practice. Therefore, angiology is a separate specialisation which is above the structure of internal medicine.