Insufficient blood supply to a specific organ or tissue. It is usually caused by disease of the blood vessels, such as atherosclerosis, but may also result from injury, constriction of a vessel due to spasm of the muscles in the vessel wall, or inadequate blood flow due to inefficient pumping of the heart. Symptoms depend on the area affected.
Treatment may include vasodilator drugs to widen the blood vessels or, in more severe cases, an angioplasty or bypass operation.
Lack of tissue oxygen and nutrients usually due to impaired (arterial) blood flow.
Bloodlessness of a part of the body, due to contraction, spasm, constriction or blocking (by EMBOLUS or by THROMBUS) of the arteries: for example, of the heart.
n. an inadequate flow of blood to a part of the body, caused by constriction or blockage of the blood vessels supplying it. Ischaemia of heart muscle produces *angina pectoris. Ischaemia of the calf muscles of the legs on exercise (causing intermittent *claudication) or at rest (producing *rest pain) is common in elderly subjects with atherosclerosis of the vessels at or distal to the point where the aorta divides into the iliac arteries. —ischaemic adj.
impairment of the blood flow to the arteries that supply the small and large intestine. The arteries include the *coeliac axis and the superior and inferior mesenteric arteries. Partial or total occlusion of blood flow may occur abruptly or over a protracted period (acute vs. chronic mesenteric ischaemia). Causes of an acute episode include migration of an arterial blood clot or embolus into the mesenteric vessels, an arterial blood clot in patients with atherosclerosis, profound low blood pressure, or states promoting coagulation. Typically a patient presents with severe abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting, diarrhoea, and rectal bleeding. Rapid diagnosis is essential since impaired intestinal blood flow predisposes to the development of gangrene and necrosis of the bowel. Treatment includes aggressive fluid resuscitation, pain relief, antibiotics, surgical resection of nonviable bowel, and radiological or surgical *revascularization of implicated arteries. In chronic mesenteric ischaemia, abdominal pain precipitated by eating is the main symptom, often accompanied by loss of appetite and marked weight loss.... mesenteric ischaemia
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