[Age-related dynamics of aortic atherosclerosis in males of Riga]

The epidemiological autopsy study of 1338 men in Riga aged 20-59 was repeated 20-25 years after the first similar investigation. Aortas were stained with Sudan IV and atherosclerotic lesions were graded by visual-planimetric method. It was the significant growth, with age, of all kinds of lesions except lipoid streaks, having the most prominent increase in men aged 40-49. In the abdominal aorta the extent of lesions was significantly higher than in the thoracic aorta beginning from the fourth decade of life. Significant increase of various lesions in aorta was observed in the same male population 20-25 years after the first examination. The tendency to the earlier transition of fibrous plaques into more severe forms of atherosclerosis (complicated lesions and calcinosis) is noted.