Quantitative analysis of pulmonary vascular disease in simple cardiac anomalies with the Down syndrome

Intimal changes and medial thickness of small pulmonary arteries were morphometrically examined in 21 cases of simple cardiac anomalies with the Down syndrome, and their correlations with age and with pulmonary arterial peak pressure were then compared with those of 20 cases of simple cardiac anomalies without the Down syndrome and 17 cases of complete transposition of the great arteries (TGA). Results indicate that (1) intimal changes developed at an earlier age in patients with simple cardiac anomalies and the Down syndrome than in those without the Down syndrome, (2) the intimal changes were more severe than those in simple cardiac anomalies without the Down syndrome at the same level of pulmonary arterial pressure and milder than those in TGA, and (3) the media of small pulmonary arteries in simple cardiac anomalies with the Down syndrome was thinner than the media in cases without the syndrome at the same radius and the same level of pulmonary arterial pressure but thicker than the media in TGA. Retarded development of medial hypertrophy in the Down syndrome or TGA in response to pulmonary hypertension appears to make the pulmonary arteries susceptible to even moderate pressure load and appears to be responsible for early development of severe intimal changes.