Intro to Pathology Flashcards
Definitions:
- Etiology
- Pathogenesis
- Morphology
- Clinical Significance
- Etiology: cause
- Pathogenesis: mechanism of disease development
- **Morphology: **structural alterations induced in the organs or cells
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Clinical Significance: functional consequences of disease that result in symptoms and signs
- abnormalities found on physical examination
What are examples of intrinsic etiology?
- Cystic fibrosis
- Sickle cell Anemia
- Huntington disease
What are the types (5) & examples of extrinsic (acquired) etiology?
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Infectious:
- bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis
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Iatrogenic (induced by medical care):
- hospital-acquired infections, medication errors and/or toxicity
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Nutritional:
- starvation, obesity, vitamin deficiencies
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Toxic:
- carbon monoxide, smoking, radiation
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Physical (trauma):
- car accidents, head trauma, gunshots
Give an example of idiopathic etiology:
Alzheimer’s disease
Give an example(s) of multifactorial etiology:
- atherosclerosis
- cancer
Sequence of events that occur in cells or tissues in response to the injury by an etiologic agent
Pathogenesis
Describe the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease:
- Degeneration of the cells of the substantia nigra (in midbrain) results in decreased dopamine to the basal ganglia.
- Results in extrapyramidal syndrome:
- resting tremor, bradykinesia (slowed movements) , gait abnormalities
- Pathogenesis is (relatively) understood, but etiology is not known.
- Treatment is replacement of dopamine (L-dopa)
What is the clinical significance of knowing the pathogenesis?
- Often dictates the appearance of signs and symptoms
- Often must be understood to develop effective therapy
Definition:
Abnormal morphology
structural changes that are characteristic of the disease or diagnostic of the etiologic agent
What are the benefits of studying abnormal morphology?
Examination of abnormal morphology helps to discover and understand disease mechanisms
How is morphology important in clinical medicine?
- Biopsies and resections (complete removal of disease processes) are the basis for diagnosis and treatment of patients
- Removed tissue is examined in pathology lab by pathologists to make a specific diagnosis of disease and evaluate if all abnormal tissue has been resected
Light Microscopy
- Frozen sections
- Permanent sections
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Frozen sections
- performed while patient is in surgery under anesthesia to determine:
- Preliminary Diagnosis
- Margins of resection
- Tissue is frozen so it is firm allowing very thin sections to be made
- performed while patient is in surgery under anesthesia to determine:
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Permanent sections
- prepared after tissue fixation and processing
- tissue is embedded in wax (paraffin) that allows thin sections to be made
What are the 4 main things a pathologist looks for with microscopic morphology?
- Types of cells present
- Cellularity
- Architectural Pattern
- Necrosis and mitoses
CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE:
- Functional derangements
- Clinical Features
- Course of disease
- Prognosis
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Functional derangements
- symptoms
- may be explained by understanding morphologic changes (pathophysiology)
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Clinical Features
- Signs (abnormalities on physical exam)
- symptoms
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Course of disease
- natural history
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Prognosis
- outcome
How are diseases classified?
- Based on etiology
- Genetic, infectious, iatrogenic, nutritional, toxic/chemical, physical
- Based on pathogenetic mechanisms
- Based on organ system affected
- Cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, etc.
