Week 1: Intro to Pathology Flashcards
(52 cards)
Disease
Any abnormal disturbance of the normal function or structure of a body part, organ, or system; may display a variety of manifestations
Pathogenesis
the sequence of events producing cellular changes that ultimately lead to observable changes known as manifestations
Manifestation
Observable changes resulting from cellular changes in the disease process
Syndrome
A group of signs and symptoms that occur together and characterize a specific abnormal disturbance
Asymptomatic
Showing or causing no identifiable symptoms
Etiology
The study of the cause and origin of disease
Sequelae
a condition that is caused by a previously acquired disease
Autoimmune disorder
Disease in which antibodies form against and injure the patient’s own tissues, in contrast to the normal process in which antibodies form in response to foreign antigens
Metastatic spread
The spread of cancer cells
Acute vs Chronic
-Acute: Having a quick onset and lasting a short period of time with a relatively severe course.
EX: pneumonia
-Chronic: Presenting slowly and persisting over a long period of time.
EX: multiple sclerosis
Sign vs Symptom
-Sign: An objective manifestation of disease perceptible to the managing physician, as opposed to subjective symptoms perceived by the patient.
EX: Fever, swelling, skin rash
-Symptom: Any subjective evidence of a disease as perceived by a patient.
EX: Headache
Iatrogenic vs Idiopathic
-Iatrogenic: Pertains to any adverse condition that occurs in a patient as a result of medical treatment
-Idiopathic: Having no identifiable causative
Diagnosis vs Prognosis
-Diagnosis: The name of a disease an individual is believed to have
-Prognosis: The prediction of course and outcome for a given disease
Morphology vs Epidemiology
-Morphology: The form and structure of disease
-Epidemiology: The investigation of disease in large groups
Mortality Rate vs Morbidity Rate
-Mortality Rate: The number of deaths from a particular disease averaged over a population
-Morbidity Rate: The incidence in the population of illness sufficient to interfere with an individual’s normal daily routine
Atrophy vs Hypertrophy
-Atrophy: A reduction in size or wasting of cells, tissues, or organs as a result of poor nutrition or nonuse
-Hypertrophy: Increase in number of cells and tissue resulting in increased organ size without the presence of a tumor
Hyperplasia vs Metaplasia vs Dysplasia
-Hyperplasia: An increase in the number of cells in a tissue as a result of excessive proliferation (Overdevelopment)
-Dysplasia: Abnormal tissue development (Abnormal changes in mature cells; also termed atypical hyperplasia)
-Metaplasia: Conversion of a specific type of tissue into a different kind of tissue (Abnormal transformation of a specific differentiated cell into a differentiated cell of another type)
Benign vs Malignant
-Benign neoplasm: A localized tumor of well-differentiated cells that does not invade surrounding tissue or metastasize to distant areas within the body
-Malignant neoplasm: A lesion that grows, spreads, and invades other tissues
Hematogenous Spread vs Lymphatic Spread
-Hematogenous spread: Spread through the blood
-Lymphatic spread: Spread through the lymphatic system
Invasion vs Seeding
-Invasion: The period of a disease once the body is infected by an organism, but prior to the development of symptoms and signs
-Seeding: Traveling of cancerous cells to a distant site or distant organ
What is the TNM cancer classification system?
The TNM system is based on the premise that cancers of similar histology or origin are similar in their patterns of growth or extension. The “T” refers to the size of the untreated primary cancer or tumor. As the size increases, lymph node involvement (N) occurs, eventually leading to distant metastases (M). The addition of numbers to these three letters indicates the extent of malignancy and the progressive increase in size or involvement of the tumor. For example, T0 indicates that no evidence of a primary tumor exists, whereas T1, T2, T3, and T4 indicate an increasing size or extension. Lack of regional lymph node metastasis is indicated by N0, and N1, N2, and N3 indicate increasing involvement of regional lymph nodes. Finally, M0 indicates no distant metastasis, and M1 indicates the presence of distant metastasis
Identify and describe the stages of cancer
-T0 indicates that no evidence of a primary tumor exists, whereas T1, T2, T3, and T4 indicate an increasing size or extension
-Lack of regional lymph node metastasis is indicated by N0, and N1, N2, and N3 indicate increasing involvement of regional lymph nodes
-M0 indicates no distant metastasis, and M1 indicates the presence of distant metastasis
-Neoplastic cells are examined histologically, and these growths are graded according to their degree of differentiation based on a scale of I (well differentiated) to IV (poorly differentiated)
Identify the imaging modalities used to stage neoplastic tumors
-Computed Tomography (CT)
-Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
-Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
-Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT)
-Hybrid imaging using both CT/PET and CT/SPECT
-Radiography
-Ultrasonography
Congenital/Hereditary Diseases
-Congenital: Diseases present at birth and resulting from genetic or environmental factors are termed congenital
-Ex: Down syndrome (caused by an error in autosomal mitosis that leads to an extra chromosome 21, so the affected individual has 47 chromosomes rather than the normal 46)
-Hereditary: Caused by developmental disorders genetically transmitted from either parent to a child through abnormalities of individual genes in chromosomes, and are derived from ancestors
-Ex: Hemophilia (proper blood clotting is absent)