CLINICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF LOWER LIMB ARTERIES IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC MACROANGIOPATHY
A morphological analysis of the arteries of the amputated lower limbs was carried out in 14 patients with diabetes mellitus. Above the knee amputation was performed in 8 patients, below the knee - 6. Serial sections were prepared from the artery fragments taken and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. The preparations were studied under a light microscope, and their morphometric study was also conducted. A morphological study found that lesions of the peripheral arteries that caused critical limb ischemia are clearly different from the atherosclerotic process described in other arteries, which can have important pathophysiological and therapeutic consequences. The abundance of calcification of the medial layer in comparison with intimal calcification provides an additional, albeit indirect, proof of the pathophysiological role in the development and clinical course of critical limb ischemia.