Question regarding the heart muscle? Help understanding please?

Question

After a heart attack, the area of heart muscle that has undergone necrosis because of a lack of blood supply undergoes healing by replacement with scar tissue.

Compare the functioning of the heart muscle that has been replaced by scar tissue with that of the normal surrounding heart muscle.

Please help me with this, having a hard time understanding. Thank you very much.

Answer 1

You've already answered your question in stating that the damaged part is scarred compared with healthy tissue.

Scarring causes improper functioning of the tissues by the very fact that the tissues are changed.  Scarring damages the normal functioning by limiting performance.  Have you ever gotten a scar on your arm or leg?  It doesn't heal properly, so then you have a scar.

So if the tissue is damaged enough to be scarred, then it's "deformed" and cannot perform as well as normal areas.  That could mean that the muscle can't move as well as before, or perhaps blood flow is limited.  Both of those are possible, and therefore restrict the ability of the heart to perform at its best.