Tissue laxity
Definition
The looseness of subcutaneous tissue. High laxity (eyelids, scrotum, elderly skin) allows blood to spread widely from a relatively small vessel injury, producing a bruise that looks larger and older than the injury mechanism would suggest.
Related terms
- Bilirubin
- A yellow-orange breakdown product of biliverdin, seen as the yellow-brown phase of a resolving bruise. Its appearance indicates advancing haemoglobin degradation.
- Biliverdin
- A green breakdown product of haemoglobin, appearing as the blue-green phase of bruise colour change. Biliverdin is then converted to bilirubin.
- Cross-polarised photography
- A photographic technique using polarising filters on both the light source and the camera lens to eliminate surface glare and reveal subsurface...
- Haemoglobin
- The iron-containing protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. Its peroxidase-like activity is the basis of most presumptive blood tests; its...
- Oxyhaemoglobin
- The form of haemoglobin in freshly shed arterial blood, where iron in the haem group is in the ferrous (Fe²⁺) state and...
Explained in
- Ageing of Bruises: Methods and LimitationsThe looseness of subcutaneous tissue. High laxity (eyelids, scrotum, elderly skin) allows blood to spread widely from a relatively small vessel injury, produci...