History of arteriosclerosis terminology

The terms used to describe the lesions of arteriosclerosis are less than 300 years old. In 1755 Van Haller used the Greek term “atheroma” to describe a space filled with gruel-like material.

In 1833, German-born French surgeon and pathologist Jean Frederick Martin Lobstein first used the terms “arteriosclerosis” to describe calcified arterial lesions. He introduced the term “arteriosclerosis” in his unfinished Traité d’Anatomie Pathologique, a four-volume treatise on pathological anatomy, based upon his lifelong personal experience .

In 1852, Johnson described the lesions of “arteriosclerosis” a thickening of arterioles of the kidney in Bright’s disease. In 1903, Monckeberg described “medial calcific sclerosis”, a form of arteriosclerosis or vessel hardening, where calcium deposits are found in the muscular middle layer of the walls of arteries.

In 1904 Marchand coined the term atherosclerosis. As age advances, there is loss of this elastin causing thickening of the arterial walls.
History of arteriosclerosis terminology

Note: Arteriosclerosis, chronic inflammatory disorder of the arteries is a defect occurring in the artery (blood vessels carrying oxygenated blood) walls. It refers to hardening of the normally flexible walls due to loss of elasticity of the arterial musculature. As age advances, there is loss of this elastin causing thickening of the arterial walls.