ischemia

Examples of ischemia in the following topics:

• Coronary Artery Disease

  • A distinction should be made between myocardial ischemia and myocardial infarction.
  • Ischemia means that the amount of blood supplied to the tissue is inadequate to supply the needs of the tissue.
  • If the blood flow to the tissue is improved, myocardial ischemia can be reversed.

• Myocardial Ischemia and Infarction

  • Atherosclerosis reduces blood flow to the heart muscle, causing ischemia.
  • Distinguish between the effects of myocardial ischemia and infarction on the heart

• Heart Circulation

  • A myocardial infarction (heart attack) may be caused by prolonged ischemia (oxygen deprivation) in the heart, which occurs due to blockage of any of the coronary arteries.
  • When these vessels become blocked, the myocardium becomes oxygen-deprived, a condition called ischemia.
  • Brief periods of ischemia in the heart are associated with intense chest pain called angina, which may either be transient if the clot breaks up on its own or stable if it does not.
  • As the time period of ischemia increases, the hypoxic conditions cause muscle tissue to die, causing a myocardial infarction (heart attack).

• Localization of Pain

  • Visceral structures are highly sensitive to stretch, ischemia, and inflammation, but relatively insensitive to other stimuli that normally evoke pain in other structures, such as burning and cutting.
  • An example is the case of ischemia brought on by a myocardial infarction (heart attack), where pain is often felt in the neck, shoulders, and back rather than in the chest, the site of the injury.

• Blood Flow in the Brain

  • Too little blood flow (ischemia) results in tissue death.

• Pressure Ulcers

  • Moist skin is more sensitive to tissue ischemia and necrosis, and is also more likely to get infected.

• Immune Complex Autoimmune Reactions

  • Further aggregation of immune complex-related processes induces a local fibrinoid necrosis with ischemia-aggravating thrombosis in the tissue vessel walls.

• Medulla Injury

  • Lateral medullary syndrome, also called Wallenberg syndrome and posterior inferior cerebellar artery syndrome, is a disease that presents with a constellation of neurologic symptoms due to injury to the lateral part of the medulla in the brain, resulting in tissue ischemia and necrosis, typically from blood clot (stroke) impeding the vertebral artery and/or the posterior inferior cerebellar artery .

• Gangrene

  • Dry gangrene begins at the distal part of a limb due to ischemia (restriction of circulation), and often occurs in the toes and feet of elderly patients due to arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).

• Compartment Syndrome

  • During the duration of compartment syndrome there is increased intra-compartmental pressure due to the accumulation of necrotic debris and hemorrhage from the initial injury and the ischemia caused by the syndrome.