CORONARY ATHEROSCLEROSIS IN NONCARDIAC DEATHS AT A TERTIARY CARE CENTER

Abstract

Introduction: Atherosclerosis leading to ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the most common cause of cardiac deaths worldwide. Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of atherosclerosis in subjects who died of noncardiac causes. Methods: This study was a retrospective study conducted at Department of Pathology, JLN medical college, Ajmer. The deceased patients who died of noncardiac causes and underwent autopsy at our hospital, their hearts were sent to our department for histopathological analysis. The hearts were fixed in 10% formalin, weighed, measured, and the coronary arteries were dissected out and carefully examined for any histological evidence of atherosclerotic plaques lesions. Results: out of 100 autopsy cases in which 65 were male and 35 were female, out of them 49 cases were (49.00%) subjects had evidence of atherosclerosis. In the study, 40 (81.63%) males and 9 (18.47%) females were atherosclerotic. Conclusion: The study showed alarmingly high prevalence of atherosclerosis. The pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis begins at a younger age in Indian population.