Intro to Pathology Flashcards
Define Disease
an alteration in the state of the body or some of its organs, interrupting or disturbing the performance of vital organs
Etiology
-cause (of disease)
- intrinsic,
- extrinsic or
- idiopathic,
- often multiffactorial
Pathogenesis
- mechanism of disease development
- the sequence of events that occur in cells or tissues in response to the injury by an etiologic agent
- it often dictates the appearance of signs and symptoms
What is clinical significance
- functional derangements
- clinical features
-functional consequences of disease that result in symptoms and signs (abnormalities found of physical examination)
- functional derangements: symptms that may be explained by understanding morphologic changes
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Morphology
- abnormal morphology
- gross morphology
- microscopic morphology
- molecular analyses-often used but not this unit!
-structure and form of tissue
- abnormal morphology: structural changes that are characteristic of the disease or diagnostic of the etiologic agent
- gross morphology: changes of organs that are visible with the naked eye
- microscopic morphology: light, electron, immunohistochemistry, special stains etc. Not often used for diagnosis.
What two things are the basis for diagnosis and treatment or patients
Biopsies and resections (complete removal of disease process)
List 3 ways you can classify a disease
- based on etiology
- based on pathogenic mechanisms
- based on organ system affected
What are the 3 roles of a pathologist
- Anatomic pathology
- surgical pathology: interpretation of bioposies etc
- cytopathology: evaluation of cells removed from organ or fluid (ex pap smear)
- autopsy
- Clinical pahtology
* evaluate all blood or fluid tests - Molecular pathology
* screen tissues or cells for disease causing mutations or polymorphisms
List the three layers of blood vessels
-arteries, arterioles, veins, venules
- intima: endothelial cells and subendothelial tissue (fibroconnective and elastic tissue)
- media: smooth muscle cells and connective tissue
- adventitia: collagenous tissue that blends with the connective tissue surrounding the vessel
List the differences between arteries, veins and capillaries
- arteries have internal (between intima and media) and external (between media and adventitia) elastic lamina.
- veins have no elastic lamina
- capillaries don’t have media
so to sum it up, arteries have lamina and veins dont.
List the cells that are involved in the inflammatory process
- neutrophils
- lymphocytes, plasma cells
- monocytes, macrophages, histocytes
- fibroblasts
- collagen
List the extrinsic etiologies of disease
- Infectious: bacterial
- Iatrogenic: induced by medical care, hospital acquired infections, errors etc
- Nutritional: starvation, obesity, vitamin deficiency
- Toxic: carbon monoxide
- physical (trauma)
How are slides of tissue prepared/used for light microscopy?
-two ways
- Frozen sections: in surg or under anesthesia to determine prolim diagnosis or margins of resection necessary . May need to guide surg. Frozen tissue allows very thin slices.
- Permanent sections: prepared after tissue fixation and processing. Tissue embedded in wax to allow thin sections.
How does a pathologist approach evluating tissue microscopically for defining characteristics? 4 ways
- Types of cells present: do they look normal and if not, how are they different?
- Cellularity: how much does it differ from normal cellularity?
- Architectural pattern: is it a normal pattern of the organ or altered?
- Necrosis and mitosis: present or absent?
What type of cell is visible here?
Neutrophils
-variably shaped nucleus, usually forms 3 lobes
What type of cell is visible here?
Mononuclear cell, one-lobed nucleus
lymphocyte big purple bloc, no clear cytoplasm
What type of cell is visible here?
plasma cell
mononuclear with nucelus pushed to side and clear pale cytoplasm
