An overgrowth of scar tissue or connective tissue. Fibrous tissue may be formed as an exaggerated healing response to infection, inflammation, or injury. Fibrosis can also result from a lack of oxygen in a tissue, usually due to inadequate blood flow through it (in heart muscle damaged by a myocardial infarction, for example). In fibrosis, specialized structures (such as kidney or muscle cells) are replaced by fibrous tissue, which causes impaired function of the organ concerned.
Fibrosis |
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