Coronary arterial disease and atheromatosis in breeding sows

The reported investigations were carried out on old breeding sows belonging to the Big White Polish Breed (BWPB) which were compared with a control group of young female pigs before fertilization, belonging to the same breed. In the perinatal period the animals were examined for presence of chronic ischaemic heart disease by clinical methods and ECG. In the interoestrus period determinations were performed in the serum of total cholesterol, free cholesterol, cholesterol esters, triglycerides, free fatty acids, total lipids and lipoprotein fractions. After killing the animals the heart and the coronary arteries were examined macroscopically and microscopically. Clinical examinations demonstrated coronary failure confirmed by ECG investigations. A correlation was found between hyperlipidaemia, particularly dyslipoproteinaemia, and advanced arteriomediosclerosis of the intramural vessels of the left ventricle, with selective, evident atherosclerotic changes in the left main coronary artery. Correlations and clinico-pathological interrelations are discussed between coronary failure, hyperlipidaemia and morphological changes in the left part of the heart.