A pathologist examining a section of infarcted myocardium notes cells with eosinophilic, homogeneous cytoplasm, nuclear karyorrhexis, and preservation of the overall tissue architecture with ghost outlines. This pattern of cell death is called:

• A Liquefactive necrosis
• B Caseous necrosis
• C Coagulative necrosis ✓
• D Gangrenous necrosis

Explanation

Coagulative necrosis is the characteristic pattern in ischemic infarcts of solid organs (heart, kidney, spleen). Denaturation of structural proteins preserves the tissue's ghost-cell architecture despite loss of nuclear staining detail; the cytoplasm becomes eosinophilic and homogeneous. Liquefactive necrosis occurs in brain infarcts and bacterial abscesses (enzymatic digestion obliterates architecture). Caseous necrosis, seen in tuberculosis, has an amorphous, cheese-like appearance with no preserved architecture. Gangrenous necrosis is a clinical term combining coagulative necrosis and bacterial superinfection.

Reference: Robbins & Cotran Pathologic Basis of Disease, 10th ed.

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