Infarction
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In medicine, infarction is necrosis of tissue due to upstream obstruction of its arterial blood supply. It is the culmination of ischemia.
Although infarction can affect any organ in the context of a number of disease states, it is most closely associated with atherosclerosis. When an atherosclerotic plaque ruptures, a thrombus forms on the surface, occluding the blood flow and occasionally forming an embolus that occludes other blood vessels downstream.
Infarctions are arbitrarily divided into two types – white (anemia) and red (hemorrhagic). The type of infarction is determined by the amount of hemorrhaging present. Solid organs, such as the heart, spleen, and kidneys are infarcted from arterial occlusion and become white, or pale, the occlusion is most often composed of platelets. Lungs generally suffer more hemorrhaging or red infarctions where we find more red blood cells and fibrin strands.
Diseases commonly associated with infarction are:
- Myocardial infarction or heart attack;
- Cerebrovascular accident (80% are due to infarction);
- Peripheral arterial occlusive disease leading to gangrene and prompting amputation.
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