[Trends in the development of atherosclerosis in Kaunas population]

The trends of development of atherosclerosis were evaluated by comparing the epidemiological morphological data from the seventh decade (first study, 1962-1965) and the tenth decade (second study, 1991-1993) of the 20th century. The first study included arteries from 818 patients (422 men and 396 women); whereas the second study included arteries from 1252 patients (958 men and 294 women). We have observed an age-independent increase in frequency and extent of the raised atherosclerotic lesions in aortas and coronary arteries of Kaunas men in the second study. Thus, the atherosclerosis has become more severe. The trends of development of atherosclerosis in aortas of Kaunas women were similar to those of men, but the atherosclerosis of coronary arteries did not progress until the fifth decade of life (the frequency of fibrous plaques in the left anterior descending artery was even lower, p < 0.05), and the area of raised lesions became larger only in the sixth-seventh decades. During the latter 20-30 years, the area of raised atherosclerotic lesions of abdominal aortas also increased in men in Riga, Tallinn, Tartu, Yalta, and elder men in Malmö as well as in Kaunas and Malmö women, aged 40-59.