ABSTRACT
Inflammation is a nonspecific physiological response to tissue damage in animal systems. It arises as a response to trauma, infection, intrusion of foreign materials, or local cell death, or as an adjunct to immune or neoplastic responses. If the initiating agent causes damage to or frank rupture of vascular tissue, blood coagulation, which is related, may be superimposed on the inflammatory response. The general inflammatory response will be considered in this chapter. Coagulation is dealt with in Chapter 9, immune, or specific, responses are dealt with in Chapter 12, and neoplastic transformation, whether chemically or mechanically mediated, is the subject of Chapter 13.
