Morphology of isolated small arteries from patients with essential hypertension

In this paper the morphological results obtained with isolated subcutaneous resistance arteries from patients with essential hypertension are reviewed. There is good agreement from these studies that the lumen diameter is decreased and the media thickness to lumen diameter ratio increased in patients with essential hypertension, which is consistent with data obtained from in vivo measurements of these variables using plethysmographic methods. On the other hand there is little or no increase in the media thickness. This suggests that an important means by which the morphological changes in hypertension are established is through a reorganization of the wall material around the lumen, a process known as "remodelling"; growth of smooth muscle may only have a minor role. In general, antihypertensive therapy increases the lumen diameter and decreases the media thickness to lumen diameter ratio; recent studies suggest that there may be drug specific effects on these variables.