Cellular infiltration of the human arterial adventitia associated with atheromatous plaques.

C ELLULIAR INFILTRATION of the adventitia in atheromatous arteries was noted by Allbutt,l Ophuils,2 and Gerlis,3 who described the histologic characteristics of cellular aggregates in the adventitia of coronary arteries, and concluded that they were unrelated to the degree of coronary artery disease. He also stated that adventitial cellular infiltration was restricted to the coronary arteries, and did not occur in other arterial sites. We considered, therefore, that a study of the nature and prevalence of adventitial cellular changes in different segments of the arterial tree would be of interest.