Death or decay of heart tissue cells due to disease or injury.
From Greek 'kardia' (heart) + 'nekrosis' (death of tissue). The term combines the medical prefix for heart with the well-established pathological term for tissue death, solidifying in medical use by the early 1900s.
Necrosis literally means 'death'—it's why a heart attack is so dangerous, because it causes cardionecrosis in part of the heart muscle, permanently damaging it.
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