Pathology Flashcards
The cause of a disease and some examples.
Etiology; toxins, pathogens, infections, immunologic abnormalities, genetic abnormalities, nutritional imbalances, trauma
The biochemical and molecular mechanisms of disease development.
Pathogenesis
The structural alterations induced in the cells and organs of the body caused by the disease
Morphological, functional, and molecular changes
The functional consequences of the etiology, pathogenesis, and morphological changes
Clinical manifestations
A departure in normal function, appearance, or sensation experienced and reported by the patient that is indicative of a disease.
Symptom
Any abnormality indicative of disease that is discovered by a clinician via physical exam or tests?
Sign
What do stains usually behave as?
Acids and bases
What type of molecule would be basophilic?
Anions, or molecules with a net negative charge
What molecules are acidophilic?
Cations; with a net positive charge
What is hypoxia? Ischemia?
Low oxygen; blockage of blood flow
what do immune responses generate that can damage healthy cells and lead to cell death?
Inflammation
What constitutes a reversible injury?
Where the function of a cell is bad, but can ultimately be reversed to normal function
What two morphologic changes correlate to reversible injury?
Fatty changes (appearance of lipid/triglycerides bound in cytoplasm in vacuoles) and cell swelling (incr permeability of cell mem)
What are the most common “points of no return” causing irreversible cell injury?
No restoration of mitochondrial function; loss of structure and function of plasma membrane and intercellular membranes; loss of DNA/chromatin structure integrity
What is unregulated cell death (or “accidental”) which is the result of severe cell damage beyond salvage? What may cause this?
Necrosis; trauma, ischemia, hypoxia, etc
What is a more organized cell death that is mediated via receptors and regulatory proteins?
Apoptosis
What response is a good differentiation between apoptosis and necrosis?
Inflammatory response, its more present in necrosis
How can leakage of cellular materials via necrosis be useful clinically?
Can be signs of disease or dysfunction (troponin and CK detection = MI; transaminases=hepatitis; alkaline phosphotase= hepatic bile duct epithelium)
What is pyknosis? What event could this be observed during? (What histological markers are evident?)
Nuclear shrinkage and basophilia of a cell after necrosis (Condensing DNA into a shrunken, dark mass)
What causes the basophilia of a necrotic nucleus to fade during pyknosis?
DNase activity degrading DNA during karyolysis
What is coagulative necrosis? Where can this occur? What are characteristics?
Necrosis where underlying tissue is preserved and lasts several days; solid organs as a result of ischemia (NOT CNS); firm texture, lack of access from enzymes to underlying tissue via denaturing them
What immune cells persist and are anucleated in coagulative necrotic tissues? What cells clean up?
Eosinophils; macrophages and neutrophils phagocytose cell debris
What necrosis type is a result of rapid accumulation of inflammatory cells from bacteria or fungal infections that digest local tissues and give it a viscous form?
Liquefactive necrosis
What is not necessarily a distinctive pattern of cell death that is more prevalent in a clinical setting where a limb loses nutrition/o2 supply via coagulative necrosis and involves multiple tissue layers?
Gangrenous necrosis