Comparative morphometry of pial vessels in dyscirculatory-ischemic and diabetic encephalopathy

Abstract

Aim – to determine the features of the morphometric parameters of the pial vessels of the brain in dyscirculatory-ischemic and diabetic encephalopathy. Materials and methods. A histopathological and morphometric study of pial vessels of 30 sectional observations was carried out. The first group consisted of 10 deaths with dyscirculatory encephalopathy, the second group – 10 cases of diabetic encephalopathy with cognitive impairment in the anamnesis of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The third group (control) selected 10 cases without diabetes mellitus and without signs of cerebral vascular pathology. Results. Compared with the control observations in diabetic and dyscirculatory-ischemic encephalopathy the thickness of the walls of vessels increases. In diabetic encephalopathy, the outer diameter increases, and the inner diameter decreases, the indices of the internal and external shape factors decrease, and the Vogenworth index and the Kernogan index increase significantly. In case of dyscirculatory-ischemic encephalopathy, the inner diameter decreases, the indices of the internal form factors decrease, the Vogenworth index and the Kernogan index increase. Thickening of the walls of microvessels compared with the norm is much more pronounced in diabetic encephalopathy than in dyscirculatory-ischemic one (by 43.55 % and 34.82 %, respectively), the difference is 8.73 %. Thickening of the vascular walls is accompanied by a decrease in the diameter of the microvessel lumen compared with the norm: by 1.87% for diabetic and by 8.74 % for dyscirculatory-ischemic. At the same time, the internal diameter of the vessels with dyscirculatory-ischemic encephalopathy decreases to a greater extent than with diabetic encephalopathy. The decrease in external and internal vascular wall shape factor is insignificant compared to the norm, and its degree does not depend on the nature of encephalopathy. An increase in the Wogenworth and Kernogan indices compared with the norm is characteristic for both encephalopathies, but more pronounced in diabetic one, which indicates a more severe impairment of blood circulation. Conclusions: The data indicate that both in dyscirculatory-ischemic and diabetic encephalopathy a number of signs,  that characterize significant pathological changes in the pial circulation, more pronounced in diabetic encephalopathy than in dyscirculatory-ischemic encephalopathy, regularly appear in the pial vessels of the brain,.