Fatty streak is the term generally given to the earliest stages of atheroma, as viewed at autopsy, looking at the inner surface of arteries, without magnification. It is not visible by current technologies in living humans, even by IVUS, the most advanced imaging technology for seeing artery walls.
It is first grossly detectable lesion in the development of
atherosclerosis. It appears as an irregular yellow discoloration of the luminal surface of the artery. The fatty streak mainy consists of foam cells, T T lymphocytes, aggregated platelets, localized smooth muscle cells and etc.
Actually the streaks are not fat, but collections of macrophage white blood cells, located under the endothelial inner lining of arteries.
The macrophage collections are usually an off white color in appearance and were thought to look like streaks of fat against the otherwise quite red/pink muscular tissue background forming the wall of arteries.
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Last updated: 08-16-2005 06:18:21
