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Infarction

 

 
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Infarction
 
 
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In medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, an infarction results in the death of a macroscopic
Macroscopic

Macroscopic is a word commonly used to describe physics objects that are measurement and observation by the naked eye. When applied to phenomena and abstract objects, it describes existence in the world as we perceive it....
 area of tissue in an organ due to loss of adequate blood supply. This dead tissue is then known as necrotic
Necrosis

Necrosis is the name given to premature death of cell s and living biological tissue. Necrosis is caused by external factors, such as infection, toxins, or trauma....
. The supplying arteries
Artery

Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. All arteries, with the exception of the pulmonary and umbilical arteries, carry oxygenated blood....
 may be blocked by an obstruction (e.g. a blood clot or fatty cholesterol
Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a lipidic, waxy alcohol found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and membrane fluidity....
 deposit), may be mechanically compressed, or ruptured by trauma.

An infarction is commonly associated with atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a syndrome affecting artery blood vessels. It is a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, in large part due to the accumulation of macrophage white blood cells and promoted by low density lipoproteins without adequate removal of fats and cholesterol from the macrophages by functional high density lipoprot...
; where an atherosclerotic plaque ruptures, a thrombus
Thrombus

A thrombus , or blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. It is achieved via the aggregation of platelets that form a platelet plug, and the activation of the humoral coagulation system ....
 forms on the surface occluding
Occlusion

Occlusion is a term indicating that the state of something, which is normally open, is now totally closed.* In medicine, the term is often used to refer to blood vessels, artery or veins which have become totally blocked to any blood flow....
 the blood flow and occasionally forming an embolus
Embolism

In medicine, an embolism occurs when an object migrates from one part of the body and causes a blockage of a blood vessel in another part of the body....
 that occludes other blood vessels downstream.






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In medicine
Medicine

Medicine is the art and science of healing. It encompasses a range of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
, an infarction results in the death of a macroscopic
Macroscopic

Macroscopic is a word commonly used to describe physics objects that are measurement and observation by the naked eye. When applied to phenomena and abstract objects, it describes existence in the world as we perceive it....
 area of tissue in an organ due to loss of adequate blood supply. This dead tissue is then known as necrotic
Necrosis

Necrosis is the name given to premature death of cell s and living biological tissue. Necrosis is caused by external factors, such as infection, toxins, or trauma....
. The supplying arteries
Artery

Arteries are blood vessels that carry blood away from the heart. All arteries, with the exception of the pulmonary and umbilical arteries, carry oxygenated blood....
 may be blocked by an obstruction (e.g. a blood clot or fatty cholesterol
Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a lipidic, waxy alcohol found in the cell membranes and transported in the blood plasma of all animals. It is an essential component of mammalian cell membranes where it is required to establish proper membrane permeability and membrane fluidity....
 deposit), may be mechanically compressed, or ruptured by trauma.

An infarction is commonly associated with atherosclerosis
Atherosclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a syndrome affecting artery blood vessels. It is a chronic inflammatory response in the walls of arteries, in large part due to the accumulation of macrophage white blood cells and promoted by low density lipoproteins without adequate removal of fats and cholesterol from the macrophages by functional high density lipoprot...
; where an atherosclerotic plaque ruptures, a thrombus
Thrombus

A thrombus , or blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. It is achieved via the aggregation of platelets that form a platelet plug, and the activation of the humoral coagulation system ....
 forms on the surface occluding
Occlusion

Occlusion is a term indicating that the state of something, which is normally open, is now totally closed.* In medicine, the term is often used to refer to blood vessels, artery or veins which have become totally blocked to any blood flow....
 the blood flow and occasionally forming an embolus
Embolism

In medicine, an embolism occurs when an object migrates from one part of the body and causes a blockage of a blood vessel in another part of the body....
 that occludes other blood vessels downstream. Infarctions can also involve mechanical blockage of the blood supply, such as when part of the gut herniates
Hernia

A hernia is a wiktionary:protrusion of a Biological tissue, structure, or part of an organ through the muscle tissue or the biological membrane by which it is normally contained....
 or twists
Volvulus

A volvulus is a life-threatening bowel obstruction in which a loop of bowel has abnormally twisted on itself....
.

Classification

Infarctions are divided into two types according to the amount of hemorrhaging present:
  • White infarctions (anemic infarct
    Anemic infarct

    Anemic infarcts are white or pale infarcts caused by arterial occlusions, and are usually seen in the heart, kidney and spleen. These are referred to as "white" because of the rapid arterial blood flow preventing red blood cells to accumulate....
    s) affect solid organs such as the heart
    Heart

    The heart is a muscle organ in all vertebrates responsible for pumping blood through the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions, or a similar structure in annelids, mollusks, and arthropods....
    , spleen
    Spleen

    The spleen is an organ found in all vertebrate animals. In humans, the spleen is located in the abdomen of the body, where it functions in the destruction of redundant red blood cells, and holds a reservoir of blood....
    , and kidneys. The occlusion is most often composed of platelet
    Platelet

    Platelets, or Thrombocyte, are small, irregularly shaped anuclear cells, 2-4?m in diameter, which are derived from fragmentation of precursor megakaryocytes....
    s, and the organ becomes white, or pale.
  • Red infarctions (hemorrhagic infarct
    Hemorrhagic infarct

    Hemorrhagic infarcts are infarcts commonly caused by occlusion of veins, with red blood cells entering the area of the infarct. This is commonly seen in lungs, liver and the GI tract, areas referred to as having "loose tissue," or dual circulation....
    s), generally affecting the lung
    Lung

    The lung is the essential respiration organ in air-breathing animals, including most tetrapods, a few fish and a few snails. In mammals and the more complex life forms, the two lungs are located in the chest on either side of the heart....
    s. The occlusion consists more of red blood cell
    Red blood cell

    Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and the vertebrate body's principal means of delivering oxygen to the body tissues via the blood....
    s and fibrin
    Fibrin

    Fibrin is a fibrous protein involved in the clotting of blood, and is non globular. It is a fibrillar protein that is Polymerization to form a "mesh" that forms a hemostasis plug or clot over a wound site....
     strands.


Diseases

Diseases commonly associated with infarctions include:
  • Myocardial infarction
    Myocardial infarction

    Myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when the Blood flow to part of the heart is interrupted. This is most commonly due to occlusion of a coronary artery following the rupture of a Vulnerable plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids and white blood cells in the wall of an artery....
     (heart attack)
  • Pulmonary embolism
    Pulmonary embolism

    Pulmonary embolism is a blockage of the pulmonary artery or one of its branches, usually occurring when a deep vein thrombosis becomes dislodged from its site of formation and travels, or embolism, to the pulmonary artery blood supply of one of the lungs....
     ("lung attack")
  • Cerebral infarction
    Cerebral infarction

    A cerebral infarction is the ischemic kind of stroke due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain. It can be atherothrombotic or embolic....
     (stroke)
  • Peripheral artery occlusive disease
    Peripheral artery occlusive disease

    Peripheral vascular disease , also known as peripheral artery disease or peripheral artery occlusive disease , includes all diseases caused by the obstruction of large artery in the arms and legs....
     (the most severe form of which is gangrene
    Gangrene

    For the American football team nicknamed "Gang Green," see New York Jets.Gangrene is a complication of necrosis characterized by the decay of biological tissues, which become black and malodorous....
    )
  • Antiphospholipid syndrome
    Antiphospholipid syndrome

    Antiphospholipid syndrome or antiphospholipid antibody syndrome is a disorder of coagulation, which causes blood clots in both artery and veins, as well as pregnancy-related complications such as miscarriage, Premature birth, or severe preeclampsia....
  • Sepsis
    Sepsis

    Sepsis, is a serious medicine condition characterized by a whole-body Inflammation state and the presence of a known or suspected infection.
  • Giant-cell arteritis (GCA)
  • Hernia
    Hernia

    A hernia is a wiktionary:protrusion of a Biological tissue, structure, or part of an organ through the muscle tissue or the biological membrane by which it is normally contained....
  • Volvulus
    Volvulus

    A volvulus is a life-threatening bowel obstruction in which a loop of bowel has abnormally twisted on itself....
  • Splenic infarction
    Splenic infarction

    In medicine, splenic infarction is a condition in which oxygen supply to the spleen is interrupted, leading to partial or complete infarction in the organ....