General and Systemic Histopathology, C601&C602
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In this slide, look
for the areas of bright pink. They will represent the areas of acute
infarction. Can you place an age on this lesion? See this slide with the virtual microscope. |
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Here the infarct shows areas of scar formation, but still you can see the typical coagulative necrosis that typifies anoxic injury. The cells develop a glassy eosinophilic appearance, eventually lose their nuclei, lyse and are removed by scavenger cells such as monocytes. You should know the basic stages of the development of a myocardial infarction, and what you would expect to see grossly and microscopically at day 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10, assuming the patient lives that long. You must also know what are the causes of "sudden" death with a myocardial infarction. For example, between day five and seven, the infarct is the weakest and could rupture. What to you suppose happens when the heart ruptures? No, surprisingly, the patient does not bleed to death. |