Wall morphology of the pulmonary artery-- XXXX imaging and pathological evaluations.

@entity1 @entity1184 @entity75 @entity1373 @entity120 @entity5642 @entity299
The pathological assessment of the pulmonary vascular bed is essential for the diagnosis and management of @entity299 with @entity120 . To investigate the relationship between @entity5642 ( @entity5642 ) findings and the Heath-Edwards (H.E.) grade of @entity1 pulmonary arteries, 40 pulmonary arterial segments from 17 autopsies and 5 @entity1 with @entity120 were evaluated using a high-frequency @entity5642 imaging system. Histological observations were carried out at the same sites that were examined with @entity5642 and at the distal pulmonary arterioles of the same branches. The subjects were subdivided into 3 groups-group I: 7 @entity1 with @entity120 (20 segments); group II: 10 @entity1 without @entity120 (20 segments); and group III: 5 @entity1 with @entity120 who were studied in vivo. All 20 segments from group I had a three-layered appearance, and 3 @entity1 with H.E. grade < 3 had an increased thickness of the echolucent zone due to media @entity1184 without an intimal reaction. In contrast, @entity5642 findings from @entity1 with severe @entity120 (H.E. grade > or = 3) showed an increased thickness with a bright inner layer due to intima @entity1373 . Evidence for @entity75 was defined in one @entity1 with severe @entity120 . The percentage of wall thickness derived from @entity5642 was significantly correlated with that determined by histological examination in group I. The pulmonary artery walls in group II had a one-layer appearance. Similar @entity5642 findings were obtained from the in vivo study regardless of whether @entity120 was present. These findings indicate that the @entity5642 may be an unique technique for evaluating the morphology of the pulmonary artery or arteriole in @entity120 and may provide objective and quantitative evaluation without a lung biopsy.
