Endothelial Barrier Dysfunction

An impairment of the vascular endothelial layer’s ability to maintain selective permeability and barrier function—caused by disruption of intercellular junctions, altered cytoskeletal tension, or basement membrane detachment—that increases paracellular permeability, facilitates leukocyte extravasation, and alters transvascular transport, contributing to tissue edema, inflammation, and microvascula