[Reaction to injury and recovery in the arterial wall]

The author describes the histological and ultrastructural manifestations of the reactions of the arterial wall after experimental damage and the phases, through which the process of repair passed. After the initial response the standard hemostatic and inflammatory reaction in all cases occurred substitution of the damaged areas of the arterial wall and regeneration of the involved cellular components of the arterial tissue, which caused repair of its integrity. The repair reaction was manifested with proliferation of smooth muscle cells in the subendothelial area of the damaged artery and with abundant accumulation of the connective tissue martrix, which after some period of time caused formation of the so called intimal thickening. In cases with many massive intimal thickenings there were disturbances in the transparietal diffusion of oxygen and nutritive substances, which affected favourably the penetration of serum lipoproteins in the arterial wall and facilated for the development of atherosclerosis in the zones of the preceding arterial damage.