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. 2020 Oct 9;21(20):7434. doi: 10.3390/ijms21207434

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© 2020 by the authors.

Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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Cellular composition of the atherosclerotic plaques, calcified native AVs, and failed BHVs. (A) Endothelial and endothelial-like cells (indicated by red arrows), magnification 1500×–2500×. Note the endothelial monolayer in the atherosclerotic plaques and native AVs and single endothelial-like cells responsible for the pseudoendothelialisation of the BHVs. (B) Vascular/valvular SMCs and VICs (indicated by red arrows), magnification 2000×. Note the valvular SMCs within the BHV pannus. (C) Fibroblasts or fibroblast-like cells (indicated by red arrows), magnification 2500×. (D) Leaky neovessels within the atherosclerotic plaques, microvessels inside the native AVs, and capillary-like tubes in the BHVs (indicated by red arrows), magnification 100×–500×. (E) Intraplaque and intraleaflet microhaemorrhages (indicated by red arrows) occurring because of plaque neovessel leakage and the fatigue-induced degradation of the valvular ECM, respectively; magnification 2500×.