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Concept
Lesion
Summary
A lesion is any damage or abnormal change in the tissue of an organism, usually caused by disease or trauma. Lesion is derived from the Latin laesio "injury". Lesions may occur in plants as well as animals.
There is no designated classification or naming convention for lesions. Since lesions can occur anywhere in the body and the definition of a lesion is so broad, the varieties of lesions are virtually endless. Generally, lesions may be classified by their patterns, their sizes, their locations, or their causes. They can also be named after the person who discovered them. For example, Ghon lesions, which are found in the lungs of those with tuberculosis, are named after the lesion's discoverer, Anton Ghon. The characteristic skin lesions of a varicella zoster virus infection are called chickenpox. Lesions of the teeth are usually called dental caries, or "cavities."
Lesions are often classified by their tissue types or locations. For example, a "skin lesion" or a "brain lesion" are named for the tissue where they are found. If there is an added significance to regions within the tissue—such as in neural injuries where different locations correspond to different neurological deficits—they are further classified by location. For example, a lesion in the central nervous system is called a central lesion, and a lesion in the peripheral nervous system is called a peripheral lesion. A myocardial lesion results from damage to the heart muscle, and a coronary lesion is a subtype that describes a lesion in the coronary arteries. Coronary lesions are then further classified according to the side of the heart that is affected and the diameter of the artery in which they form.
If a lesion is caused by a tumor, it can be classified as malignant or benign after analysis of a biopsy. A benign lesion that is evolving into a malignant lesion is called "premalignant". Cancerous lesions are sometimes classified by their growth kinetics, such as the Lodwick classification, which characterizes classes of bone lesions.
Official source
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