Localization of atheroma: a theory based on boundary layer separation.

Current reports of research into the problem of atheroma deal largely with abnormalities and peculi- arities of lipid metabolism. As atheromatous plaques are rich in lipids, and can be produced in most experimental animals by a high cholesterol diet, it is reasonable to suppose that atheroma and lipid metabolism are related. There will, however, be some disagreement with Hess (1964) who stated that " atherosclerosis is now rather generally accepted to be a disorder of lipid metabolism", because there are several features of the disease that are not explained in terms of lipid disturbance.