The coronary arteries in early life in three different ethnic groups.

The histologic changes in the coronary arteries in full-term fetuses, infants, and children of 211 consecutive necropsy specimens from Ashkenazy, Yemenite, and Bedouin groups were studied, excluding cardiac deaths. The developmental structural pattern of the coronary arteries is similar in the three ethnic groups. Differences in the intensity and quantity of the structural findings between the sexes and among various ethnic groups are found in early life. The intimal tissue in the Ashkenazy male develops in an eccentric form, has more collagen tissue components, and is more highly developed than in the Ashkenazy female. Structural findings in the internal elastic membrane and the elastic fibers of the intima are less apparent in the Bedouin group, particularly in the female, than in the Ashkenazy and Yemenite