A septal infarction is a condition in which the septum of the heart has a patch of dead or dying tissue. Septal infarction, the result of a heart attack, can be thought of as a wound on the heart. The non-invasive way to try to determine if a person has a septal infarction is to do an electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG).

An EKG is a test in which little electrodes are pasted on the body to detect the electric impulses of the heart. Having an EKG is a painless procedure that allows the beating of the heart to be plotted, or graphed, on a chart in a pattern of waves. Doctors then study and interpret these wave patterns to determine if there are any signs of heart disease or damage, such as a septal infarction. One thing to be aware of is that many factors can throw off the reliability of an EKG, so just because the wave patterns indicate a septal infarction doesn't necessarily mean there is one. One possible cause of a false report of septal infarction on an EKG is improper placement of the electrodes on the body.

The heart is divided into chambers called ventricles and atria, and the septum is the wall that separates the heart into these chambers. "Infarction" is the name given to an area of damaged or dead tissue, so a septal infarction is when the dying tissue is on this wall that divides the heart. A myocardial infarction is a similar type of wound or dead area of the heart, only it is not specific to the septum, and both myocardial and septal infarctions are the result of a heart attack.

Some physical conditions that are precursors to septal infarction include obesity, smoking, diabetes, and raised cholesterol. A person with two or more of these conditions runs the risk of clogging up the vessels that supply blood to the heart and, when the heart is cut off from an adequate blood supply, the heart tissue begins to die very quickly. This death of heart tissue, should it occur in the septum or walls of the heart, would result in septal infarction.

Healing from septal infarction is possible, but it is not without permanent damage to the heart. Just as other wounded parts of the body can heal, so can the heart, but the heart cannot stop to rest in the way that a broken arm might be wrapped in a sling and protected while healing. Heart tissue also scars when it heals, and this scar tissue is rigid, thereby reducing the efficiency of the heart, so infarctions become more likely to occur in the future.