Respi patho Flashcards
What holds open the large airways?
Cartilage
What controls the calibre of the small airways?
Smooth muscles
What type of cells line the alveoli?
Type 1 pneumocytes
Fn of type 2 pneumocytes
Produce surfactant
Repair of alveolar damage
What perforates alveolar walls?
Pores of Khon
Fn of pores of Khon
Permit passage of exudate and bacteria btw adjacent alveoli -> enable infection to spread
Requirements for lung to freely exchange O2
Alveoli must be open
- surface tension kept low
Lungs must be compliant
- easy to stretch and expand
Air must move freely
Sufficient area for diffusion
Barrier to diffusion must be thin
What is rhinitis?
URTI
Inflammation of the nasal cavity
Usually viral in origin
Pathogenesis of rhinitis
Viral necrosis of surface epithelial cells -> exudation of fluid and mucus from the damaged surface
Submucosal oedema -> swelling and nasal obstruction
Infection can spread to lower tract -> predispose to bacterial infection
What is allergic rhinitis?
Hypersensitivity to environmental agents
Pathogenesis of allergic rhinitis
Antigenic stimulus persists -> mucosa becomes swollen and polypoid w/ formation of nasal polyps
What are nasal polyps?
Localised outgrowths of lamina propria due to accumulation of oedema fluid, inflammation and fibroblast proliferation
Features of nasal polyps
Multiple
Bilateral
Involve nasal cavity and paranasal sinuses
Amt and composition of inflammatory component highly variable
Take shape of nasal cavity
What is sinusitis?
URT
Inflammation of the paranasal sinus linings of the maxillary, ethmoid and frontal sinuses
Pathogenesis of sinusitis
Mucosal oedema -> impaired drainage of secretions -> predispose to sec bacterial infection
Severe -> spread to meninges
What is the nasopharynx?
Part of pharynx lying immediately behind nasal cavities
- inaccessible -> hard to detect tumor until it’s grown in size
What lines the nasopharynx?
Respiratory columnar epithelium
w/ associated mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue
Is nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) common in SG?
Yes
3 histological classification of NPC
Non-keratinising carcinoma
Keratinising squamous cell carcinoma
Basaloid squamous cell carcinoma
Characteristics of non-keratinising NPC
Tumor is poorly differentiated
Intermingled lymphocytes amongst carcinoma cells
Diff appearance to other squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck
Characteristics of keratinising NPC
Resembles squamous cell carcinoma of other sites in the head and neck region
Associated w/ smoking and alcohol consumption
Risk factors for NPC
Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) infection at young age
Salt-preserved food
Family history
Features of EBV infection
Subclinical in childhood
Virus associated w/ later development of several malignancies
Infection in adolescence more likely to be symptomatic
Infects and maintain latency in nasopharyngeal epithelium and tonsillar B lymphocytes
Link btw NPC and EBV
NPC pts have elevated Ab titres to EBV viral antigens
- Ab titres precede tumor development by several years, correlated w/ tumor burden, remission and recurrence
- further linked to development of NPC thru EBV DNA, RNA and/or gene pdts in tumor cells
EBV stimulates normal cell to divide -> cancer