Infiltrate

infiltrate

1. Pathol any substance that passes into and accumulates within cells, tissues, or organs

2. Pathol a local anaesthetic solution injected into the tissues to cause local anaesthesia

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Infiltrate 

an accumulation in bodily tissues of cellular elements admixed with blood and lymph. Inflammatory and tumorous infiltrates occur most often.

An inflammatory infiltrate consists chiefly of polymorphonuclear leukocytes (suppurative infiltrate), erythrocytes (hemorrhagic infiltrate), lymphoid cells (round cell infiltrate), and histiocytes and plasma cells (histiocyte-plasma cell infiltrate). These infiltrates may be resolved, may liquefy, or may undergo sclerosis and form caverns, abscesses, scars, and so forth.

A tumorous infiltrate consists of tumor cells of different kinds (carcinoma, sarcoma); it is a manifestation of the infiltrating growth of a tumor. When an infiltrate forms, the tissue enlarges, changes color, and becomes harder and sometimes painful. In surgical practice, an infiltrate is an induration that develops in tissues when they become saturated with an anesthetic.

V. V. SEROV