Chapter 1 Pathology Flashcards
What is Pathology
The study of disease process
What is Disease
Any abnormal change in the function or structure within the body
What is Pathogenesis
The sequence of events that makes a disease apparent
What is Etiology
The study of the cause of a disease and is often misused as a synonym for the actual cause of a disease
What is Idiopathic
Diseases that have no known cause
What is Diagnosis
When the pathogenesis of a disease allows one to determine the actual disease
What is Prognosis
A prediction of the course of the disease and the prospects for the patients recovery
What are Signs
Objective manifestations that are physically observed by a health-care professional
EX: mass, rash, abnormal pulse rate
What are Symptoms
The patient’s perception of the disease, such as headache and abdominal pain. Symptoms are subjective and only the patient can identify them
What are Tests
An analysis of specimens taken from the patient, such as blood and excrement, can also help determine the disease process
What is Frequency
The rate of occurrence of a pathologic process that is measured over a given period of time, normally 1 year
What is Incidence
The number of newly diagnosed cases of a disease in 1 year
What is Prevalence
The number of people who have any given disease at any given point in time
What is Morbidity rate
Refers to the ratio of sick to well persons in a given area
What is Mortality rate
The ratio of actual deaths to expected deaths
What is an Additive disease?
If the disease process adds more tissues (tumors, masses, and edema).
Technical factors must be increased
What is a Destructive disease?
If the disease destroys tissues, such as osteoporosis and emphysema
Technical factors must be adjusted for less penetration
What are the two classifications of diseases?
Structural and Functional
What is another term for structural disease?
Organic disease
Structural/Organic disease
involves physical and biochemical changes within the cell also known as lesions
What must happen for a disease to be considered structural?
The organ must be altered in some way as to present a pathologic entity
What are the three broad categories that classify most structural diseases?
- Genetic and developmental
- Acquired and Inflammatory
- Hyperplasia and Neoplasia
What are genetic & developmental diseases caused by?
Abnormalities in the genetic makeup of the individual or abnormalities due to changes in utero
Congenital disease
present at birth
Hereditary disease
Result from developmental disorders genetically transmitted from either parent to the child and are derived from ancestors
What are acquired & inflammatory diseases caused by?
Caused by internal or external agents that destroy cells or cause the body to injure itself by means of inflammatory processes
What are the major internal mechanisms of injury?
Vascular insufficiency, immunologic reactions, & metabolic disturbances
What are the major external mechanisms of injury?
Physical and chemical substances and microbes
What is Necrosis
Occurs when the direct effects of an injury kill the cells in the injured area
What is Sublethal cell injury
Any injury to a cell that does not cause the cell to die
What is Degeneration
The initial cell response following injury
What is Inflammatory disease
Results from the body’s reaction to a localized injurious agent
What are the different types of inflammatory diseases?
- Infective diseases
- Toxic diseases
- Allergic diseases
What are hyperplasia & neoplasia used to describe?
Diseases characterized by increases in cell populations
What is Hyperplasia
A proliferative reaction to a prolonged external stimulus and usually regresses when the stimulus is removed
What is Neoplasia
Presumed to result from a genetic change that produces a single population of new cells, which can proliferate beyond the degree that is considered normal
What are functional diseases?
Those diseases in which the function of the organ may be impaired, but its structural elements are unchaged
What is the basic change in a functional disease?
physiologic or functional one and is referred to as a pathophysiologic change
What diseases are considered functional?
Many mental illnesses are considered functional
What are the most common functional disorders?
Tension headache and functional bowel syndrome
What are Exogenous Agents
Causative agents that are external in nature
What are Endogenous Agents
Agents that are internal in nature
What categories are external causes of diseases divided into?
- Mechanical (also known as physical)
- Chemical
- Microbiologic
What is Trauma
Direct physical injury by an object
type of mechanical injury
What are Chemical injuries
Generally categorized by the manner of injury into poisoning and drug reactions
What are Microbiologic injuries
Usually classified by the type of organism (such as bacteria and fungi) and are termed infections
What is Iatrogenic
Infections resulting from treatment by a health professional produce iatrogenic diseases
What are the three large categories that internal causes of disease fall into
- Vascular
- Immunologic
- Metabolic diseases
Vascular diseases
May involve obstruction of the blood supply to an organ or tissue, bleeding, or altered blood flow such as that occurs with heart failure
What is the leading internal cause of structural disease and results in tissue necrosis due to anoxia
Vascular insufficiency
What is Ischemia
Deficiency of oxygen and nutrient-laden blood in the muscle
What is Infarct
Area of necrotic muscle tissue
Ischemic infarct occurring in the heart is known as what?
myocardial infarct
Immunologic diseases
Are caused by aberrations of the immune system and affect the body’s ability to fight disease
What is it called when the body produces agents that actually attack it?
Autoimmune disease
Metabolic diseases
Encompass a wide variety of biochemical disorders. These are the functional activities of cells that result in growth, repair, energy release, use of food, and secretions
What are the two types of injury?
Acute and Chronic
What is acute injury?
Acute injury has a sudden onset and is severe although short lived
What is Hypoxia
Reduction in oxygen
When an acute injury occurs, what may accompany it?
A thrombus
What is a thrombus and what may it do?
Thrombi can narrow the vessel, causing vascular insufficiency
What is a thrombus that dislodges and moves through the blood stream?
Embolus
What is a chronic injury?
An injury that occurs several times
EX: a shoulder that dislocated repeatedly
What is usually involved with a chronic injury?
Atrophy
What is atrophy?
An acquired process that is regressive and results from a decrease in cell size of cell number or both. It is actually a progressive wasting away of any part of the body, causing impairment or loss of function
What are the four types of Atrophy?
- Senile
- Disuse
- Pressure
- Endocrine
What is senile atrophy?
This type of atrophy occurs with age and involves shrinkage of the brain tissue. Memory is impaired. Senile atrophy is NOT Alzheimer’s disease
What is disuse atrophy?
When a body part is not used, it will atrophy.
EX: a casted leg in which the muscle tissue shrinks considerably in 6 to 8 weeks of disuse
What is pressure atrophy?
Atrophy as a result of steady pressure on tissue is not uncommon
EX: Bedsores
What is endocrine atrophy?
This type of atrophy is caused by decreased hormonal production
EX: When a woman goes through menopause, estrogen and progesterone are no longer produced
What are the two types of inflammation?
Acute and chronic
What is Phagocytosis
Leukocytes attack the cellular debris and clean the site
What are the four clinical cardinal symptoms of acute inflammation?
- Red skin (rubor)
- Swelling (edema)
- Heat at the site (calor)
- Pain (dolor)
What does vasodilation allow?
An increase in blood supply to be delivered to the injured area
What is Congestion
Results from vasodilation. Congestion manifests itself by heat and redness of skin and becomes apparent within minutes of injury
What is Transudate
A collection of fluid in tissue or in a body space caused by increased hydrostatic or decreased osmotic pressure in the vasculature system without loss of protein into tissue. Transudate are clear, watery fluids with low protein content
When there is increased osmotic pressure in the tissue because of high protein content and there is inflammation of the lymphatic flow what results?
Exudates
What is the difference between transudates & exudates?
Exudates tend to be more localized than transudates because most inflammations are localized
What are purulent exudates?
Pus loaded with live and dead leukocytes
What is suppurative inflammation?
An inflammatory reaction with a lot of purulent exudates
What is an abscess?
A localized collection of pus
What is stenosis?
Narrowing of the organ
What are the cells of the body derived from?
The fertilized ovum cell
What can the cells of the developed organism be divided into?
Germ cells and somatic cells
What are the four major categories that somatic cells are divided into?
- Epithelial Cells
- Connective tissue cells
- Muscle tissue cells
- Nervous tissue cells
What are epithelial cells?
Those that arise from the embryonic ectoderm and endoderm
What are the different functions of the different epithelial cells?
Some create tissue to form the lining of the body spaces while others become a protective layer and cover surfaces of the various glands and organs
What are connective tissues cells?
They are mostly derived from mesoderm, and are the most widespread in the body and provide multiple functions
What are the functions of the connective tissue cells?
They lend support wherever the body needs it, such as tendons and ligaments. They connect and bind, such as muscle and bone. The produce blood cells and protect against infection
What are the cells found in connective tissues?
Fibroblasts, macrophages, mast cells, and other types
What are macrophages?
They are infection fighters and help in phagocytosis
What are muscle tissue cells?
They are also derived from mesoderm but resemble epithelial cells in their close approximation to each other
What is another name for muscle tissue cells?
Fibers
What happens to muscle tissue cells when causing contraction and providing movement?
They decrease in length and increase in thickness
What are the three types of muscle tissues?
- Voluntary (striated)
- Involuntary (smooth)
- Cardiac (involuntary, striated)
What are nerve tissue cells?
They are derived from ectoderm and include nerve cells (neurons) and their supporting cells (neuralgia)
TRUE OR FALSE
Nerve tissue is the most highly specialized tissue in the body, making them one of the most radio resistant cells in the body?
True
What is the relationship between the reproductive capability of the cell and the occurrence of disease?
Direct relationship
What are the two cell types that undergo continuous replacement?
epithelial and endothelial
What is the altered tissue growth?
Can be defined as a departure from normal tissue growth caused by the multiplication of cells
What is another name for altered tissue growth?
Growth disturbance
What are the two categories of growth disturbances?
Hyperplasias and neoplasms
What are hyperplasias and neoplasms characterized by?
proliferation of cells that increase tissue mass
What is hyperplasia?
An exaggerated response to various stimuli in the form of an increase in the number of cells in the tissue
Can hyperplasia recede?
Yes, if the stimulus is removed and permanent structural changes have not occurred
What kind of tissues does hyperplasia involve?
Tissues that undergo physiologic replacement, but it may involve stable tissue
What may cause hyperplasia?
Hyperplasia may be caused by a wide variety of stimuli, such as a remote response to inflammation, hormone excess or hormone deficiency, chronic irritation, or unknown factors
What is hypertrophy?
Refers to an increase in cell size
What is the difference between hyperplasia and hypertrophy?
Hyperplasia refers to an increase in cell numbers, whereas hypertrophy refers to an increase in cell size
What is the term hypertrophy best applied to?
Muscles because the muscle fiber (cell) enlarges as a response to increased workload rather than undergoing hyperplasia
What is metaplasia?
Occurs when a normal cell becomes abnormal. It is an abnormality of growth in an individual cell
What does neoplasm mean?
New growth and occurs when cell division does not progress in the usual pattern
When will neoplasm result?
If the developmental pattern is interrupted by an abnormal and uncontrolled growth of cells
What can neoplasms be classified as?
Benign or malignant
What are benign neoplasms?
Single masses of cells that remain localized at their site or origin and are limited in their growth
What are malignant neoplasms?
Cancerous tumors that are defined by their potential to invade and metastasize at some point
What is invasion?
Refers to direct extension of neoplastic cells into surrounding tissue without regard for tissue boundaries
What is metastasis?
Malignant neoplasms disseminate to distant sites through a process known as metastasis
What are the three ways for metastasis to occur?
- Lymphatic
- Seeding
- Hematogenous
What is the lymphatic way for metastasis to occur?
The cells travel through the lymph system to other areas. When the cells reach a lymph node that is too small for the cells to pass through, the tumor cells will permeate the lymph vessel wall and plant at that site
What is the seeding way for metastasis to occur?
This is a diffuse spread of tumor cells. The tumor invades a body cavity by penetration
What is the hematogenous way for metastasis to occur?
This occurs when cells penetrate blood vessels and are then sent into the circulatory system. When the large cells get trapped in the smaller vascular channels, they pass through the vessel wall and into the tissue, where they multiply
How is cancer classified?
By the tissue or blood cells in which it is derived
Where do most cancers originate from & what are they called?
Epithelial tissue and are called carcinomas
When is the term sarcoma used?
If the tumor is from non-epithelial tissue, such as connective, muscle, and bone tissue
What is lymphoma?
Cancer of the lymphatic system
What is leukemia?
Malignancy of the blood and related organs
What is differentiation?
A cell can transform from normal to cancerous, thus a tumor can closely reproduce the normal structure of the cells
TRUE OR FALSE
The more highly differentiated the tumor, the less the degree of malignancy because it is most closely like the normal cells
True
What is Grading?
The process of determining the degree of differentiation, and thus the degree of malignancy
What are Grade 1 tumors?
The most differentiated and least malignant
What are Grade 4 tumors?
The most malignant and least differentiated
What is staging?
Determining the size of the tumors at the primary site and the presence of any metastasis
What is the leading cause of death due to cancer in women in the United States?
Lung carcinoma
What is the number 1 overall cause of death in women
Heart disease
