Stenosis

Stenosis
CT scan of a bronchial stenosis (arrow) that resulted from tracheobronchial injury
Classification and external resources
MeSH	D003251

A stenosis (/stəˈnoʊsᵻs/;^[1][2] plural: stenoses, /stəˈnoʊˌsiːz/) (from Ancient Greek στένωσις, "narrowing") 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]

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.

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.

Causes

• atherosclerosis causes stenotic lesions in arteries.
• birth defects
• diabetes
• iatrogenic, e.g. secondary to radiation therapy
• infection
• inflammation
• ischemia
• neoplasm – in such cases, the stenosis is often said to be "malignant" or "benign", although this attribute actually refers to the neoplasm itself.
• smoking
• ureteral
• urethral
• Calcification
• headbanging

Types

The resulting syndrome depends on the structure affected.

Examples of vascular stenotic lesions include:

• Intermittent claudication (peripheral artery stenosis)
• Angina (coronary artery stenosis)
• Carotid artery stenosis which predispose to (strokes and transient ischaemic episodes)
• Renal artery stenosis

The types of stenoses in heart valves are:

• Pulmonary valve stenosis, which is the thickening of the pulmonary valve, therefore causing narrowing
• Mitral valve stenosis, which is the thickening of the mitral valve (of the left heart), therefore causing narrowing
• Tricuspid valve stenosis, which is the thickening of the tricuspid valve (of the right heart), therefore causing narrowing
• Aortic valve stenosis, which is the thickening of the aortic valve, therefore causing narrowing

Stenoses/strictures of other bodily structures/organs include:

• Pyloric stenosis (gastric outflow obstruction)
• Lumbar, cervical or thoracic spinal stenosis
• Subglottic stenosis (SGS)
• Tracheal stenosis
• Obstructive jaundice (biliary tract stenosis)
• Bowel obstruction
• Phimosis
• Non-communicating hydrocephalus
• Stenosing tenosynovitis
• Atherosclerosis
• Esophageal stricture
• Achalasia
• Prinzmetal angina
• Vaginal stenosis

See also

• Restenosis
• Atresia

References

Notes

External links

• Tracheal Stenosis Audio and Video