| The Role of Macrophages in Saphenous
Vein Graft Disease |
(Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Toranomon
Hospital, Tokyo, Japan)
| Toshiya Kobayashi |
Haruo Makuuchi |
Yoshihiro Naruse |
| Masahiro Goto |
Keita Tanaka |
Yasuo Arimura |
| Masatake Katsu |
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| This study was designed to assess
the role of macrophages in saphenous vein graft disease after
coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Three newly harvested
saphenous vein grafts (SVGs) and 6 SVGs removed from patients
8 to 15 years after CABG (3 were occluded soon after the operation
and 3 became diseased after a long period) were immunostained
for macrophages and investigated microscopically. No macrophages
were detected in the newly harvested SVGs. In the grafts with
early occlusion, macrophages were detected only in the superficial
layer of the intima. In the grafts that became diseased after
a long period, macrophage accumulation was detected at the site
of atherosclerotic lesions. In the pathogenesis of arterial atherosclerotic
lesions, vascular endothelial cell damage and subsequent subendothelial
migration of monocytes/macrophages in the early phase are thought
to be very important. This study revealed that macrophage migration
into the intima of SVGs occurs soon after surgery and suggested
it could be the basis of saphenous vein graft disease occurring
long after CABG. Jpn. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 29: 295-298 (2000) |
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