What happens to the dead muscle tissue in the heart after a myocardial infarction (heart attack)?

The damage caused by a myocardial infarction (heart attack) is often permanent, and the dead muscle tissue in the heart will not regenerate. This is because heart cells have limited capacity for self-repair, unlike skeletal muscles which are able to regrow after injury.

When a person suffers a heart attack, some of the oxygen-rich blood flow to the affected part of the heart is blocked off due to narrowed or obstructed coronary arteries. Without enough oxygen, this area of cardiac muscle dies as it can no longer perform its normal functions. Depending on how many areas are affected and how much tissue was damaged in total, this can lead to an impairment of cardiac performance resulting in reduced pumping strength which can lead to symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath.

Once dead, these areas will be replaced with scar tissues that lack any contractile function leading to impaired function in that region of the heart chamber walls and overall poor cardiac performance even without further insults such as blockages or narrowings within other arterial vessels down stream. Furthermore, inflammation associated with healing processes within other nearby muscle cells may also result in impairments so great that they could develop into chronic conditions including congestive heart failure over time if medical interventions limit progression preventable downstream pathologies are not introduced early on post infraction event.: