Pathophysiology of Ischaemia & Infarction Flashcards
What is ischaemia?
a restriction in blood supply to tissues, causing a shortage of oxygen that is needed for cellular metabolism (hypoxia)
What is infarction?
obstruction of the blood supply to an organ or region of tissue, typically by a thrombus or embolus, causing local death of the tissue
What are the causes/types of hypoxia?
Low inspired O2 level or normal inspiration but low PaO2
Anaemia
Stagnant blood
Cytotoxic
Describe how hypoxia due to stagnant blood may arise
Abnormal delivery of blood
Can be local - due to occlusion of a vessel
Can be systemic - due to shock
Describe why cytotoxic hypoxia may arise
Normal delivery of oxygen to tissues
However, oxygen uptake/usage is ineffective at a cellular level
What factors affect oxygen supply?
Inspired O2
Lung function
Blood constituents
Blood flow
Integrity of vasculature
Tissue mechanisms
What factors affect tissue demand?
What type of tissue it is
What it’s doing:
- activity of tissue above baseline value
In terms if supply & demand
What is Ischaemic heart disease?
Mismatch between supply & demand of oxygen
Hypoxia of the heart muscles
What can cause a mismatch in supply & demand, for ischaemic heart disease?
Supply issues:
- coronary artery atheroma
- cardiac failure (flow)
- pulmonary function – other disease or pulmonary oedema (LVF)
- anaemia
- previous MI
Demand issues:
- heart has high intrinsic demand
- exertion/stress
- stenosis of aorta & all them ones
What are the clinical consequences of atheromas in the coronary arteries?
Normal atheroma = stable angina
Complicated atheroma = unstable angina
Fissured/ulcerated plaque = thrombosis = ischaemia or infarction (BAD)
What is the main risk associated with an atheroma in the aorta?
Aneurism
What are the clinical consequences of Ischaemic heart disease?
MI TIA Cerebral infarction Abdominal aortic aneurysm Peripheral vascular disease Cardiac failure
Coronary artery disease —-> MI —-> cardiac failure
Using physics n shit
What effect does an atheroma have on flow in an artery?
Resistance proportional to 1/r^4
So a very small decrease in lumen size due to a plaque causes a HUGE increase in resistance & therefore flow in an artery
What cells are most at risk of damage from ischaemia?
Cells with high metabolic rate
What are the general effects of ischaemia?
Dysfunction
Pain
Physical damage
“If a significant ischaemic event does not receive medical intervention or therapy, it will either _______ or progress to ________”
It will either resolve or progress to infarction
Define infarction
Ischaemic necrosis within a tissue/organ in living body produced by occlusion of either the arterial supply or venous drainage
What are the main causes of infarction?
Thrombosis
Embolism
Strangulation - eg of gut
Trauma - cut/ruptured vessel
What determines the scale of damage done by ischaemia/infarction to an organ/tissue?
Time period
What organ/tissue it is
Patterns of blood supply
Previous disease
Why is the length of time that a tissue has been ischaemic/infarcted for an important determinant of damage?
Necrosis doesn’t happen instantly - cells/tissues can survive for some time without supply of blood
Blood supply lost –> Anaerobic M –> cell death –> Liberation of enzymes –> Breakdown of tissue
^the stage that the tissue is at determines the scale of damage