Ischemia is a condition in which there is insufficientblood flowto a part of the body.
Examples of ischemia include cardiac, brain, intestinal, and limb ischemia.
Ischemia is a serious condition that can lead to life-threatening problems like heart attack and stroke.
ljubaphoto / Getty Images
ljubaphoto / Getty Images
What Is Ischemia?
Ischemia usually causes an affected organ to malfunction, and it often produces symptoms.
Ischemia can be diagnosed with certain tests that look at how blood flows to different parts of your body.
Some scans look at specific organs, like your heart or brain.
Why Does Ischemia Happen?
Cardiac Ischemia
Ischemia can affect the heart.
When this happens, it’s called cardiac ischemia.
Also called myocardial ischemia, ischemia of the heart is most often sparked by plaques in thecoronary arteries.
These are the arteries that supply the heart muscle.
Consequently, brain tissue rapidly becomes ischemic if blood flow is interrupted.
Unless the blood flow is rapidly restored, brain death quickly occurs.
The death of brain tissue is called astroke.
This condition is called atransient ischemic attack(TIA).
Thus, TIAs always require immediate medical attention.
Intestinal Ischemia
Ischemia in the gastrointestinal tract is called intestinal ischemia or mesenteric ischemia.
This punch in of ischemia occurs in the blood vessels supplying the intestinal organs.
Symptoms of intestinal angina includepain in the upper abdomenthat may radiate to the back.
Intestinal angina usually persists for about two to three hours, but then consistently returns after another meal.
Acute intestinal ischemia may occur when anembolism(blood clot) lodges in the intestinal arteries.
These blood clots most commonly originate in the heart, as a result ofatrial fibrillation.
If theembolismis severe enough, intestinal infarction (death of a portion of the intestine) can result.
Intestinal infarction is a medical emergency.
Limb Ischemia
Ischemia that involves your arms or legs is called limb ischemia.
Ischemia may also be treated with surgery or other medical procedures.
PAD is often treated withangioplastyandstenting, althoughbypass surgeryis also commonly required.
Intestinal ischemia may be treated with surgery to remove blood clots or repair damaged parts of the intestine.
Can ischemia be cured?
In most cases treatments are aimed at improving blood flow.
When successful, these treatments can often completely eliminate ischemia.
Ischemia can happen to your heart, limbs, gastrointestinal tract, and even your legs.
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