noun

infarction

in-FAHRK-shun/ɪnˈfɑːrkʃn/

Death of tissue caused by interrupted blood supply.

The blocked vessel causes infarction in the downstream kidney tissue.

An anatomical cutaway of a kidney shows a clot completely obstructing a renal arterial branch and the sharply defined, pale wedge of dead tissue downstream, contrasting with surrounding healthy tissue.

Etymology

inLatininto

+farctLatinto stuff

+ionLatinact or process

Literally an “act of stuffing or filling,” infarction carries an image that fits a blocked blood supply. In the selected medical sense, it names the tissue death caused by that blockage.

In context

Institute of Human Anatomy4:19

the type of pain that pericarditis causes compared to say something like myocardial infarction, which is a fancy-pants name for a heart attack.

Your Heart Sits In a Sac??? | Pericardium & Pericarditis

More examples

The medical report described a myocardial infarction.
Interrupted blood flow caused the tissue infarction.
The study examined damage following infarction.

Forms

infarction · infarctions

Similar words

ischemia: Ischemia is inadequate blood supply; infarction is tissue death that can result.
necrosis: Necrosis is tissue death generally; infarction specifies loss of blood supply as the cause.