THE PREDILECTION OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS FOR THE CORONARY ARTERIES

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Abstract
In people over 60 years of age the most massive and advanced atheromatous lesions are generally found in the distal third of the aorta and in the iliac arteries. Similar lesions in the arteries of the heart, brain and lower extremities therefore appear to be merely local manifestations of a process elsewhere more extensive, and lesions in these arteries are striking only because of the disastrous effects of cutting down on the blood flow in vital organs. However, from a study of the vessels of the hundreds of soldiers who died of coronary atheromas while in training in America1 it became apparent that cases of coronary disease without tibial, cerebral or aortic lesions, which seem exceptional after the sixth decade, are the rule in men under 40. It is true that cerebral thromboses and gangrene of the legs due to atheromas are almost always associated with severe disease of