Stenosis

Overview
A stenosis 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).

Stenoses of the vascular type are often associated with a noise (bruit) resulting from turbulent flow over the narrowed blood vessel. This bruit can be made audible by a stethoscope. Other, more reliable methods of diagnosing a stenosis are imaging methods including ultrasound, Magnetic Resonance Imaging/Magnetic Resonance Angiography, Computed Tomography/CT-Angiography which display anatomic imaging (i.e. the visible narrowing of a vessel) and/or flow phenomena (signs of the movement of the bodily fluid through the bodily structure).

Causes

 * atherosclerosis causes stenotic lesions in arteries.
 * birth defects
 * ischemia
 * infection
 * neoplasm
 * inflammation
 * iatrogenic, e.g. secondary to radiation therapy

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

Stenoses/strictures of other bodily structures/organs include:
 * Pyloric stenosis (gastric outflow obstruction)
 * Obstructive jaundice (biliary tract stenosis)
 * Bowel obstruction
 * Phimosis
 * Hydrocephalus
 * Stenosing tenosynovitis
 * Spinal stenosis
 * Subglottic stenosis (SGS)