Infarction
Death of tissue resulting from an interrupted blood supply.
What it means
An infarction is an area of tissue death caused by loss of its blood supply. The dead tissue itself is termed an infarct.
It is the consequence of ischaemia that has been severe enough, or sustained long enough, for cells to die. The critical distinction between the two is reversibility: ischaemic tissue can recover, infarcted tissue cannot.
Familiar examples include myocardial infarction — a heart attack — and cerebral infarction, which accounts for the majority of strokes.
Because infarction is irreversible, treatment aims at restoring flow before it occurs, which is the basis of the emphasis on time in both stroke and heart attack care.
In practice
Appears in discharge summaries, imaging reports and cardiology letters. "Old infarct" on a scan describes established scarring from a previous event, sometimes discovered incidentally in someone unaware of having had one.
Blood tests measuring troponin detect heart muscle damage and are central to diagnosing myocardial infarction.
Why it matters
Suspected infarction of the heart or brain is a time-critical emergency in which the extent of permanent damage depends directly on how quickly blood flow is restored.
Call 999 for chest pain lasting more than fifteen minutes, particularly with sweating, nausea or pain radiating to the arm or jaw, and for sudden facial droop, arm weakness or speech difficulty.
Clinically reviewed by Dr Mohammad Zubair Khan, GMC 7563469
Last reviewed
August 30, 2026