In recent years, we have witnessed a rapid expansion of our knowledge regarding the role of the endothelium in the control of vascular tone (and organ perfusion) in health and disease. Physiology, pharmacology, and molecular biology have uncovered a wealth of information on structure and function of this heretofore largely neglected "organ." Clinical medicine is now called upon to define the clinical significance of these observa tions that imply the mechanisms of blood coagulation, e.g., the interaction of throm bocytes with the endothelium, vasomotor control, and specifically, the...

A vast literature has been concerned with arteriosclerosis and yet, many aspects of pathogenesis and of the mechanism of development of the arteriosclerotic vascular lesion remain only poorly understood. In recent years, our knowledge of the earliest stages of arteriosclerosis have greatly improved. By now, we have learned to relate morphologic changes to disturbances in function. It has been of particular impor tance that components of the arterial wall could be analyzed in regard to dysfunction, for example, in the endothelium or the vascular smooth muscle. The interaction of the different...