Atheromatous embolization. Report of two cases with unusual complications

Two cases of spontaneous atheromatous embolization associated with unusual complications are presented. One is an 85-year-old man who developed an acute abdomen and underwent a surgical resection of totally infarcted left-sided colon. Histologically, multiple acute atheromatous emboli were found occluding the serosal and pericolic mesenteric arteries causing transmural necrosis of the involved portion of bowel. The other is an 80-year-old woman who had had a coronary heart disease, hypertension, and renal insufficiency, and terminally developed a rapid deterioration of renal function and melena. Postmortem examination showed a severely, ulcerated, aortic atherosclerosis and widespread, recurrent, atheromatous emboli in many abdominal organs with the resultant severe nephrosclerosis, gastrointestinal mucosal hemorrhagic necrosis, and multiple infarcts in the pancreas and spleen. In addition, there was focal cortical necrosis of the kidneys accompanied with glomerular capillary fibrin thrombi indicating disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC). These findings seen in the present two cases were briefly discussed in light of the previous pertinent literature.