Acute myocardial ischemia is an established cause of polymorphic ventricular rhythms. Brief episodes of ischemia in one vascular bed protect remote, virgin myocardium from subsequent sustained coronary artery occlusion in this canine model. Ischemia definition of ischemia by Medical dictionary Ischemia can also occur in the arteries of the brain, where blockages can lead to a stroke. Sometimes, a blood clot in the heart or aorta travels to a cerebral artery.
Travell and Simons termed this therapy ischemic compression because, on release of pressure, the skin is at first blanched and then shows reactive hyperemia. Most blockages in the cerebral arteries are due to a blood clot, often in an artery narrowed by plaque. Sudden induction of ischemia by occlusion of a major branch of a coronary artery in mammalian heart sets into motion a series of events that culminates in the death of markedly ischemic myocytes. Ischemia may induce sustained or nonsustained monomorphic VT in the presence of a myocardial scar.
Echocardiography may detect signs of cardiomyopathy or other structural abnormalities and impaired LV.