Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The restoration of blood flow to an organ or tissue that has had its blood supply cut off, as after a heart attack.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun medicine the restoration of blood flow to an organ, after it was cut off (e.g. in an operation)

Etymologies

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Examples

  • Becker views cell death in cardiac arrest as a two-step process, beginning with oxygen deprivation, which sets up the cell for apoptosis; then the heart starts up again and the patient gets a lungful of oxygen, triggering what is called reperfusion injury.

    Back From the Dead 2007

  • When a heart attack victim is revived after losing a pulse, a cascade of new health complications can begin in what is known as a reperfusion injury.

    EMSResponder.com: Top EMS News 2009

  • These effects are deemed to be important for the prevention of the paradoxical additional damage to the heart muscle known as reperfusion injury.

    Health News from Medical News Today 2008

  • It is now well accepted that this process termed reperfusion injury limits clinical success of the intervention.

    Health News from Medical News Today 2008

  • Despite this, most MI patients suffer additional irreversible cardiac muscle cell loss, ironically as a result of these treatments - a condition known as reperfusion injury.

    innovations-report 2008

  • Despite this, most MI patients suffer additional irreversible cardiac muscle cell loss, ironically as a result of these treatments - a condition known as reperfusion injury.

    Health News from Medical News Today 2008

  • Biologists are still grappling with the implications of this new view of cell death — not passive extinguishment, like a candle flickering out when you cover it with a glass, but an active biochemical event triggered by "reperfusion," the resumption of oxygen supply.

    Reviving the Dead | Impact Lab 2007

  • Differential gene expression in liver biopsies obtained post reperfusion, determining prognostic indicators of graft function.

    Basic Science Liver Disease Research 2010

  • Early gene expression in the liver graft after reperfusion - use of cDNA microarray, RNA protection assays, and multimeric RT-PCR technology.

    Basic Biliary Atresia Research 2010

  • Effect of immunosuppressive therapy on recovery from ischemia/reperfusion

    Basic Biliary Atresia Research 2010

Comments

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  • "Biologists are still grappling with the implications of this new view of cell death—not passive extinguishment, like a candle flickering out when you cover it with a glass, but an active biochemical event triggered by "reperfusion," the resumption of oxygen supply. The research takes them deep into the machinery of the cell, to the tiny membrane-enclosed structures known as mitochondria where cellular fuel is oxidized to provide energy. Mitochondria control the process known as apoptosis, the programmed death of abnormal cells that is the body's primary defense against cancer. "It looks to us," says Becker, "as if the cellular surveillance mechanism cannot tell the difference between a cancer cell and a cell being reperfused with oxygen. Something throws the switch that makes the cell die."

    --Newsweek 5/7/07 article "To Treat the Dead"

    May 4, 2007

  • Very interesting, good post Oroboros.

    May 6, 2007