TY  - JOUR
A1  - ,  
T1  - Vascular lesions and vibroacoustic disease
JO  - Eur. J. Anat.
SN  - 1136-4890
Y1  - 2002
VL  - 6
SP  - 17
EP  - 21
UR  - http://www.eurjanat.com/web/paper.php?id=02010017
KW  - animal experiment
KW  - animal model
KW  - animal tissue
KW  - aorta
KW  - artery diameter
KW  - artery intima proliferation
KW  - artery media
KW  - article
KW  - cell proliferation
KW  - controlled study
KW  - environmental exposure
KW  - extracellular matrix
KW  - femoral artery
KW  - hindlimb
KW  - histology
KW  - industrial noise
KW  - inferior cava vein
KW  - long term exposure
KW  - low frequency noise
KW  - noise injury
KW  - nonhuman
KW  - occupational exposure
KW  - pressure
KW  - rat
KW  - rat strain
KW  - simulation
KW  - smooth muscle fiber
KW  - thickness
KW  - vein
KW  - vibration
KW  - vibroacoustic disease
N2  - Low frequency noise (LFN) (? 90 dB SPL, ? 500 Hz) is an agent of disease that regularly goes unchecked during standard noise assessment procedures. Vibroacoustic disease (VAD) is an extra-aural noise-induced systemic pathology, caused by long-term exposure to LFN and characterised by a proliferation of extra-cellular matrices. The present study attempts to elucidate the behaviour of medium-and large-calibre blood vessels in the presence of insult due to noise and vibration. Thirty-five adult Wistar rats were studied. The animals were divided into 3 groups. One group of 20 rats was exposed to large pressure amplitude and low frequency (LPALF) noise in an occupationally simulated schedule: 8 h/day, 5 days/week, and weekends in silence, for 968 to 1984 (median 1576 h) cumulative hours of noise exposure. Another group of 5 rats was exposed to 24 h of continuous noise. The last group of 10 rats (control) was kept under identical conditions but in a silent environment. Overall noise levels were recorded above 109 dB, the A-weighted levels being around 98 dB (A). The rats were sacrificed and fragments of aorta, inferior vena cava and femoral artery and vein from both hindlimbs, were collected; these were prepared for histological examination. With long-term exposure, the aorta and the femoral artery showed a focal thickening of the intima, disruption of the internal elastic lamina and a proliferation of smooth muscle cells in the intima in 70% of the cases. With acute exposure, the lesions appeared in 60% of the cases observed. Most of the lesions involved the appearance of clefts in the media, pulling the cells and the elastic membranes apart. The media thickness-to-inner caliber ratio of the femoral artery was increased (p<0.05). Our results point to a remodelling of the vessels that can be attributed to vibration and flow disturbances. The observed remodelling was not observed in small vessels.
ER  -