Foundation:

atherosclerosis is a disease of multifactorial origin that is aggravated as a result of an adverse environment and unhealthy lifestyles. Evidence confirms its onset from the earliest stages of life.

Objective:

to describe the presence of early atherosclerotic lesions in the aortas of deceased fetuses and neonates born to hypertensive mothers.

Method:

a descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out that included fetuses older than 22 weeks and deceased neonates born to hypertensive mothers, who underwent autopsy in the pathological anatomy department of the Eusebio Hernández Pérez Gynecobstetric University Hospital, in the period between January 2021 and December 2022, with a total of 18. The following data were collected in the medical records: sex of the deceased, gestational age at the time of delivery, postpartum weight, maternal age, and history of arterial hypertension (chronic or gestational). The 18 aortas (thoracic and abdominal) of the selected deceased were analyzed.

Results:

of the total number of deceased studied, 70.6 % presented early atherosclerotic lesions, characterized by thickening of the intima as a cushion, presence of lymphocytes in the intima or in the arterial wall close to it and/or macrophages. In some cases, one of these histological variants was observed and in others a combination of two or three.

Conclusions:

early atherosclerotic lesions are present in the aortas of the majority of the fetuses and neonates studied, with a predominance in those with gestational hypertension.