The cardiovascular system of the non-human primate

The following chapter is a review of the normal anatomical considerations specific to the non-human primate along with spontaneous diseases and selected xenobiotic-associated toxicities of their cardiovascular system. Most spontaneous diseases observed in the modern non-human primates used in laboratory research (e.g., congenital, degenerative, metabolic, and neoplastic) are quite rare with the exception of low-severity inflammatory infiltrates. The noninflammatory spontaneous diseases are generally only described in a limited number of case reports and are usually distinct enough to be readily distinguishable from xenobiotic-associated findings whereas the spontaneous inflammatory conditions of the cardiovascular system may overlap to a greater degree with xenobiotic-associated findings and thus prove to be more difficult diagnostic and interpretive challenge.