Pathology Terminology

Question 1

Pathology

Answer 1

study of disease
- structural + functional changes in cells, tissues + organs
- relating these changes to specific cause
- how changes manifest + contribute to disease

health -> insult -> structural + functional changes -> disease

Question 2

Etiology

Answer 2

= cause

Question 3

Pathogenesis

Answer 3

how disease develops

etiology -> sequence of events -> lesion

Question 4

Lesions

Answer 4

morphologic alterations in cells or tissues
- macroscopic (gross path)
- microscopic (histopath)
- ultrastructure (electron microscopy)

visual representations of tissue injury + response

not every lesion is significant

Question 5

Pathognomonic Lesions

Answer 5

lesion when taken in cotext of clinical picture that is diagnostic for a particular process

incredibly rare

Question 6

Statistical Significance v Clinical Significance

Answer 6

Statistical Significance
- probability that study results are due to chance
- highly dependent on sample size

Clinical Significance
- magnititude of actual treatment effect

Question 7

Lesions secondary to euthanasia

Answer 7

barbiturate salts
splenomegaly (barbiturates euthanasia or anesthesia)
cranial hemorrhage (captive bolt)

Question 8

Post-mortem changes

Answer 8

• algor mortis = cooling
• rigor mortis = rigidity
• liver mortis = blood pooling
• staining = bile or hemoglobin imbibition, pseudomelanosis, melanosis
• gas-distention = emphysema, prolapses, gastric rupture
• etc.

Question 9

Differentiating antemortem v postmortem lesions:

Answer 9

is there a tissue reaction?
- inflammation, fibrosis, edema, hemorrhage

does it make sense in context of case?

what is the post-mortem interval?

Question 10

Clinical Signs v Symptoms

Answer 10

Question 11

Diagnosis

Answer 11

interpretation of nature of disease taking into context the lesions + clinical signs

few different types:
- morphological diagnosis
- etiologic diagnosis
- disease/condition

Question 12

Morphologic Diagnosis

Answer 12

gross + histopathology

• descriptive in nature + focused on 1 lesion or 1 set of related lesions
• etiology usually not provided -> sets stage for differentials list

ORGAN: [Severity] , [Duration] , [Distribution] , [Lesion] +/- “with..” [Additional features]

modifiers: severity, duration, distribution

Question 13

Etiologic Diagnosis

Answer 13

• less descriptive + doesn’t always identify specific lesion

ex. parvoviral enteritis, cutaneous endocrinopathy, pigmetary nephropathy

Question 14

Disease/Condition Diagnosis

Answer 14

• a bit of a summation of everything you are seeing/observing
• no descriptive comment

Question 15

Prognosis

Answer 15

an estimate of future outcome

combines case history, lesions, clinical signs, diagnosis together with established literature +/or prior experience

express in terms of optimism
- excellent, good, fair, guarded, poor/grave