Vascular remodelling in hypertension.

Abstract

Essential hypertension is associated with alterations in the structure of the resistance vasculature, such that the ratio of the media thickness to the lumen diameter (media:lumen ratio) is increased. These abnormalities have previously been explained in terms of vascular growth (an encroachment of the wall into the lumen), but the abnormalities could also be due to a rearrangement of a normal amount of material around a smaller lumen, a process known as 'remodelling'. This paper reviews briefly some of the evidence for vascular remodelling as an important factor in the pathogenesis of essential hypertension.