Wall Mass Transport and Other Mechanisms Underlying Atherogenesis

Abstract

This final session represents an important part of the Symposium, because much concerning atherogenesis remains to be considered and explained. Thus, although various observations lead to the conclusion that the development of atherosclerosis is associated with the local fluid dynamics, neither the flow pattern at sites of predilection nor the mechanisms which associate a particular flow pattern with predisposition to the disease is fully understood. Indeed, the distribution of the disease is not fully described by an association with a particular flow pattern. An additional characteristic is that it affects preferentially the intima (particularly the subendothelium) of thick-walled vessels, sparing thin-walled vessels.