Necrosis

Necrosis

  • Abnormal tissue death during life
  • Energy independent
  • Occurs as a result of factors outside the cell
  • Associated with inflammatory changes

 

Classification

  1. Coagulative
    • Tissue architecture preserved - kidney, heart, spleen
    • Proteins coagulate rapidly from heat
  2. Colliquative
    • Tissues rich in lipid, lysosomal enzymes denature fats and cause liquifaction - brain
  3. Caseous
    • Unstructured
    • Impossible to identify tissue affected by necrosis as architecture is destroyed - classical of TB

 

Fat Necrosis

 

Gangrene

  1. Dry: mummification of tissue without infection
  2. Wet: Necrosis with putrefaction caused by infection (anaerobic streptococci, bacteroides)

 

Autolysis

  • Degradation of a cell by activation of enzymes presnet in the affected cell (self-digestion)
  • May occur in necrosis or apoptosis

Heterolysis

  • Degradation of a cell by activation of enzymes present in cells other than the affected cell