Aortasclerose : Bevindingen bij een bevolkingsonderzoek te Zutphen

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS In the introduction attention is drawn to the most striking physical sign in aortic sclerosis: the cardiac murmur often being at first noticed by the general practitioner. The collective entity 'arteriosclerosis' is headed into: 1. Atherosclerosis, a locution especially regarding the vessel's intima. 2. Mönckeberg's sclerosis, a lesion especially affecting the media, and also appertaining to the subject of arteriosclerosis, 3. The arteriolosclerosis, a term reserved for small blood-vessels, in diameter 100-microns or less. In chapter 1 the design of the cardiological screening of the population in the city of Zutphen is discussed: a search into the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, performed in almost the same way as has been done in different foreign countries, coordinated by a number of American Professors. In the Netherlands the whole project is supervised by Prof. Dr. F.S.P. van Buchem, who since 1960 annually repeats the investigation in Zutphen, the cooperation of the citizens being caracterized by the high returning percentage of the examined men. For the investigation from the 2300 men in the 40-60 year's age group, 4 out of every 9 names, taken from the alphabetical city register, were invited to come for examination, which selection method resulted into a group of 918 men. Up till 1969 an average annually returning rate of 90% was obtained. Apart from detailed physical-and laboratory examination, each year different additional medical performances were organized. In 1965, for instance, phonocardiograms were recorded from those participants in whom, in the preceding years, a cardiac murmur-seemingly of the aortic type-had struck the examiners, in spite of the fact that these examinees had no other signs or symptoms of aortic disease. At the same time this method was applied to a control-group of about the same number of men, in whom no cardiac murmur was noticed..