Necrosis
Cosmetic Surgery - Plastic Surgery - Aesthetic Medicine - Reconstructive Surgery
Necrosis is not cell or natural tissue death (or apoptosis) in an aging
cell or tissue. Necrosis is cell death initiating a strong
inflammatory response that will result in the production of debris
released by necrotic cells. Unlike normal cell death, which is a
programmed and ordered phenomenon, necrosis is the accidental death of
the cell caused by various mechanisms as an insufficient supply of
oxygen, thermal or mechanical trauma or even irradiation. During
necrosis the cell is affected by lesions that will lead to its
destruction by explosion and inflammation. Cells that are in necrosis
swell and then burst (cytolysis), releasing their contents into the
surrounding area. This cytolysis results in a locally triggered
inflammatory reaction characterized by swelling, pain, heat and
redness. Cleansing is carried out by phagocytes that will eliminate the
remains of the necrotic cell from areas outside the cell by digesting
them.
Necrosis occurs in various forms in cancer patients: necrosis of the
cancerous tissue at the heart of a large volume of tumour as a result
of lack of vascularisation of the cells farthest from the periphery
where the blood vessels arrive, or necrosis by the brutal cytolysis of
cancer cells in very chemo sensitive cancers. Other types of necrosis
observed in cancer patients include localized necrosis of healthy
tissue during infiltration of caustic chemotherapy (necrosis may lead
to an open wound requiring a skin graft) and necrosis during
irradiation.
Necroses also occur as a result of local infections progressing to abscess formation.