The body was that of a well developed, somewhat debilitated white man weighing 108 lb. There were bilateral pterygia and arcus senilis, and the mouth was edentulous.

The heart weighed 510 gm., and at the outflow tracts the left and right ventricles measured 19 and 3 mm., respectively. The coronary arteries were sclerotic and diffusely narrowed throughout their courses, and the right coronary artery was virtually occluded by a yellow atheromatous plaque 1.5 cm. distal to its origin. The myocardium of the posterior base of the left ventricle was replaced by gray scar tissue over a 7.5 cm. area. The valves were normal except for thin yellow plaques on the inferior surface of the mitral leaflets. Microscopically, sections from the posterior base of the left ventricle of the heart showed several large areas of replacement of muscle by fibrous tissue. In addition, other sections contained focal areas of recent myocardial necrosis that were infiltrated with neutrophils. Many of the myocardial fibers were hypertrophied and had large, irregular, basophilic nuclei. The intima of the larger coronary arteries was thickened by fibrous tissue containing fusiform clefts and mononuclear cells.

The intimal surface of the aorta was covered with confluent, yellow-brown, hard, friable plaques along its entire course, and there was a marked narrowing of the orifices of the large major visceral arteries. In particular, the orifices of the right renal and celiac arteries were virtually occluded, and both calcified common iliac arteries were completely occluded.