Necrosis can occur due to trauma, disease, or another cause.
From the Latin necrōsis , which in turn derives from a Greek word, necrosis is the degeneration of a tissue due to the death of its cells . This mortality is produced by the action of a harmful agent that generates irreparable injury .
Necrosis can be caused by trauma, ischemia (when the blood supply to the tissue is not sufficient), the action of a chemical or toxic substance, an infection or a certain disease . It is important to keep in mind that, once necrosis occurs, it is irreversible.
There are many other causes that can become the origin of necrosis. Specifically, this can be produced as a result of the important imbalances that someone experiences in terms of nutrition, the individuals being affected by substances or infectious agents of different types or the occurrence of various genetic alterations. All of this without forgetting that necrosis can have its original cause in exposure to certain ionizing radiation and relevant thermal variations.
The adaptation mechanisms of cells and necrosis
Cells have a great capacity to adapt. When faced with a stimulus , they can experience various changes: atrophy (the decrease in the size of the organ), hypertrophy (the increase in the size of the organ), metaplasia (the change of one tissue for another) or hyperplasia (an increase in the number of cells in the organ). organ).
When the adaptation mechanisms are not sufficient, the cell dies, either by necrosis or apoptosis (the cell loses its anchorage, reduces its cytoplasm and fragments its genetic material).
Necrosis may require different medical interventions.
Classification according to type
There are different types of necrosis depending on the injury, such as coagulative necrosis (generated by ischemia), fat necrosis , gangrenous necrosis and necrosis with liquefaction , among others.
In the case of fat necrosis we have to emphasize that, in turn, it is divided into two. Thus, on the one hand, there would be the traumatic type which, as its name indicates, has its origin in a trauma of some importance. And on the other hand, we would find that it occurs as a result of a series of changes in the cell, which is the one that, by itself, decides that it has to die.
Necrosis with liquefaction , for its part, we can establish that the main consequences are the fact that the area that is necrotic becomes absolutely liquefied.
In addition to the types of necrosis exposed, the one known as caseous necrosis should not be overlooked either. In various pathologies such as, for example, tuberculosis appears, which is identified by the fact that the necrotic area acquires a white appearance similar to that of cheese.
From necrosis to gangrene
When necrosis affects a considerable area of the body, it is called gangrene . In these cases, the decomposition of organic tissues usually affects the extremities and, in the most extreme cases, requires amputation of the affected limb.
Gangrene can be dry (due to lack of circulation), wet (due to a bacterial infection), or foamy (when a strong odor is released from the affected tissue).