Arteriography and histopathology in experimentally produced atherosclerosis in rhesus and fascicularis monkeys

In order to attempt to characterize atheromatous plaque dynamics, and to develop standardized techniques of observation of this behavior, 91 arteriographies were performed on 47 subhuman primates (40 Rhesus and 7 Fascicularis) over a 10-year experimental project. Histopathologic examination was performed at biopsy on the majority of animals and at autopsy on all animals. Selected representative arteriograms and histopathologic cross-sections are presented as well as detailed analyses of the various animals' response to atherogenic regimen. Arteriographic stenosis was site specific for 4 sites virtually exclusively: right internal carotid, inferior mesenteric, lumbar, and presacral arteries. There was no distinction within each grade of stenosis (on a 1-4 grade scale) for all arteriograms, and precision reproducibility of arteriographic technique was achieved without regard to age, size, weight, or type of animal. The consistency and exclusivity of arteriographic 4-site pattern of stenosis, together with non-correlation between it and the histopathologic or surgical observations, suggests that the stenosis observed by all of these methods may be partially or completely a function of artefact attributable to technique. At the very minimum, arteriographic and histopathologic methods are demonstrably dissociative and, therefore, the findings of these 2 cannot be compared in grading atherosclerotic plaque advancement or regression.