Fibromuscular dysplasia

Definition


It is a focal irregular thickening of the walls of medium and large muscular arteries.
It include renal, carotid, splanchnic, and vertebral vessels



Causes

It is probably developmental, first-degree relatives of affected individuals have an increased incidence.

Complications

Segments of the vessel wall are focally thickened by a combination of irregular medial and intimal hyperplasia and fibrosis; this results in luminal stenosis, and in the renal arteries may be a cause of renovascular hypertension

Vascular outpouchings (aneurysms) may develop in the vessel segments with attenuated media and in some cases can rupture.

Fibromuscular dysplasia can manifest at any age, although it is seen most frequently in young women; there is no association with use of oral contraceptives or abnormalities of sex hormone expression