What is arteriomalcia?

Arteriomalacia refers to any softening of an artery. Often, the term is synonymous with arteriosclerosis but it may alternatively imply the necrosis as a softening of blood vessel walls. Most typically, these softened, sclerotic arterial lesions occur from atherosclerotic plaques that rupture and result in hemorrhage within the wall of their supplying blood vessel. While less commonly they also can be the aftermath of acute severe hypotension leading to ischemic stroke, septic arterial infection involving the aortic bifurcation, postprocedural arterial injury from angiographic intervention of stents on peripheral arterial bypass grafts.