"Sausage-string" appearance of arteries and arterioles

Vascular damage induced by acute hypertension is preceded by a peculiar pattern where blood vessels show alternating regions of constrictions and dilations ("sausages on a string").

The pattern occurs in the smaller blood vessels, and it plays a central role in causing the vascular damage.

A related vascular pattern has been observed in larger vessels from several organs during angiography. In the larger vessels the occurrence of the pattern does not appear to be related to acute hypertension.

A unifying feature between the phenomenon in large and small vessels seems to be an increase in vascular wall tension.

The mechanisms underlying the sausage pattern is still unknown but there is probably a relation with the sympathetic system.

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https://www.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpregu.00006.2002