Stenosis

A stenosis (from Ancient Greek στενός, "narrow") is an abnormal narrowing in a blood vessel or other tubular organ or structure. It is also sometimes called a stricture (as in urethral stricture).[3]

Stenosis
Other namesStenoses
CT scan of a bronchial stenosis (arrow) that resulted from tracheobronchial injury
Pronunciation

Stricture as a term is usually used when narrowing is caused by contraction of smooth muscle (e.g. achalasia, prinzmetal angina); stenosis is usually used when narrowing is caused by lesion that reduces the space of lumen (e.g. atherosclerosis). The term coarctation is another synonym,[4] but is commonly used only in the context of aortic coarctation.

Restenosis is the recurrence of stenosis after a procedure.

Types

The resulting syndrome depends on the structure affected.

Examples of vascular stenotic lesions include:

The types of stenoses in heart valves are:

Stenoses/strictures of other bodily structures/organs include:

Causes

Diagnosis

Stenoses of the vascular type are often associated with unusual blood sounds resulting from turbulent flow over the narrowed blood vessel. This sound can be made audible by a stethoscope, but diagnosis is generally made or confirmed with some form of medical imaging.

See also

References

Notes

  1. OED 2nd edition, 1989, as /stɪˈnəʊsɪs/.
  2. Entry "stenosis" in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
  3. "Dorlands Medical Dictionary:stenosis". www.mercksource.com. Retrieved 2010-05-05.
  4. "coarctation" at Dorland's Medical Dictionary
Classification
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