Head and Neck pathology I: Salivary Glands and Upper Respiratory Tract Flashcards
What are the important aetiological processes in the upper airways?
Neoplasia (cancer caused by viruses and environmental agents)
Inflammation/infections
Autoimmune diseases
What tissue lines the upper airways?
Respiratory epithelium transitioning to squamous epithelium.
What are the upper airways important for?
Olfaction
Conditioning of inhaled air
What is acute infectious rhinitis?
The common cold
What can acute infectious rhinitis progress into?
pharyngitis/tonsillitis
chronic rhinitis (superimposed bacterial infection with pus)
Sinusitis
What anatomical abnormality increases chances of chronic rhinitis?
Deviated nasal septum
Which main viruses cause the common cold?
Adenovirus
Echovirus
Rhinovirus
How should a common cold be treated?
It is self limiting but unpleasant
What are the classes of sinusitis?
Acute
Chronic
What causes acute sinusitis?
Ascending infection from nose/nasopharynx/teeth. (usually bacterial)
What can acute sinusitis progress into?
Empyema/abscess
What causes chronic sinusitis?
Usually when there are problems with drainage.
Mixed flora, fungal/bacterial
Relapsing/remitting
Occasionally involves bone (osteomyelitis) or cranial vault
What are possible complications of pharyngitis/tonsilitis by streptococcus bacteria?
Post infectious GN
Rheumatic fever
What viruses cause pharyngitis/tonsillitis?
Adenoviruses, echoviruses, rhinoviruses
What is allergic fungal sinusitis?
Eosinophilic fungal infection.
What is allergic rhinitis?
Hayfever which is an allergic reaction to pollen, fungi, animals, dust mites, etc.
It is IgE mediated and is a type I hypersensitivity reaction. (both early and late phase response)
[nose equivalent of asthma]
What are the symptoms of allergic rhinitis?
Oedema
Leukocytic infiltrate with numerous eosinophils
What are nasal polyps?
A type of hyperplastic lesion which is characterized by repeated bouts of inflammation -> oedema and fibrosis -> polyp formation
What do nasal polyps cause?
Obstruction and further inflammation and recurrent infections
Hyperplastic lesions are referred to as allergic but are they?
Most people with nasal polyps don’t have signs of atopic disease
What is a polyp?
Derived from the word cuttlefish. Refers to an abnormal growth from a mucous membrane and has an epithelial lining over a stromal core.
What kind of diseases can cause polyp formation?
Neoplastic conditions
Hyperplastic conditions
Inflammatory conditions (pseudopolyps)
Hamartomatous (benign proliferation with disorganized growth)
What kind of base can polyps have?
Pedunculated (on a stalk)
Sessile (broad based)
What is a sinonasal papilloma?
Group of benign neoplasms arising from sinonasal epithelium.
What are the types of sinonasal papillomas?
Exoophytic (growing outwards)
Endophytic/inverted and growing inwards without invading.
Mixed
Who most commonly gets sinonasal papillomas?
Males
people aged 30 - 60
What infection causes papillomas?
HPV (esp types 6 and 11)
Which SNPs can recur?
If not excised endophytic types can recur and can erode into orbit or cranial vault (erosion of bone can be an issue and can cause infection)
What is the chance of SNP becoming cancerous?
Small risk; endophytic has a small chance (~10%) of transforming into squamous cell carcinoma if not excised.
Why must endophytic SNPs be operated on?
They can erode bone and grow into cranial vault or orbit.
They can also change into squamous cell carcinomas.