Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Atherosclerosis
Narrowing and hardening of arteries
HP:0002621
What it means
A condition characterized by patchy atheromas or atherosclerotic plaques which develop in the walls of medium-sized and large arteries and can lead to arterial stenosis with reduced or blocked blood flow.
Strictly speaking, atherosclerosis is a specific type of arteriosclerosis ('hardening of the arteries'), although the terms are sometimes used interchangeably in clinical jargon.
In everyday care
Most people with this sign do not have a rare disease — it appears in common conditions far more often. These general reference pages cover the same topic:
Rare diseases that can present with this21
Common30–79%
12- Autosomal semi-dominant severe lipodystrophic laminopathy
- Body skin hyperlaxity due to vitamin K-dependent coagulation factor deficiency
- Extracranial carotid artery aneurysm
- Familial cerebral saccular aneurysm
- Familial partial lipodystrophy, Dunnigan type
- Flynn-Aird syndrome
- Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome
- LCAT deficiency
- Lipodystrophy due to peptidic growth factors deficiency
- PPARG-related familial partial lipodystrophy
- Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia
- Werner syndrome
Sometimes5–29%
6The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease · Plaque build-up in arteries
Tracking symptoms like this for someone? Eleplan keeps symptoms, diagnoses, medications and every specialist in one plan.
Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.