GENERAL PATHOLOGY

Introduction to General Pathology Lecture No 1

Introduction to Pathology
Disease?
• Pathology: Pathology is the study of Disease.
*Loss of ease
• Pathos – suffering, disease
*a departure from a normal state
• Logos – study

The better we understand the disease, the better we can diagnose & treat it The
What ‘s normal (When Body at Ease)

Anatomy Physiology Histology Biochemistry Genetics

Health is a state of an individual living in complete harmony with his

environment.

Let’s define again Pathology

Pathology is the study of morphological, functional, molecular and biochemical changes in cells,
tissues, or organs in response to an injury.

General Pathology: Concerned with the basic reactions of cells and tissues to
injurious stimuli
Systemic Pathology: The application of these basic reactions to the various body systems, or to
various specific diseases.

Clinical Pathology: It includes certain laboratory methods which help in making the diagnosis
e.g., urine examination, blood examination
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Necropsy & meat inspection: Postmortem examination of animals. To determine the health of
animals both prior to death (ante mortem) and after death (post mortem)

Poultry Pathology: Investigation of Poultry diseases.

Pathology covers Four aspects of a disease process

Functional alterations
Morphological
Aetiology Pathogenesis and changes
Changes (Lesions)
(Pathophysiology)

1. Etiology: Etiology of a disease means the cause of the disease, if the cause is known, it
may be of primary or secondary type, when the cause is unknown it is called idiopathic
etiology.

Agents (Aetiology) that cause things to go wrong/ injury

Physical

Parasitic Environmental

Chemicals Microbial

Genetic Nutritious

2. Pathogenesis: Mechanism of development of a disease.

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3. Morphological Changes (Lesion):

A lesion is any damage or

The structural alterations in abnormal change in the tissue
cells or tissues structure of an organism,
usually caused by disease

Types of Lesion

Macroscopic or Gross Lesions Microscopic or histopathology Lesions

Can see through the naked eye Can see through a microscope

Gross Pathology/Examination Histopathology

Examination of tissue without the help of a Study of diseases tissue under a
microscope microscope

Pathognomonic Lesion: A lesion or sign that is specifically distinctive or characteristic of a

disease or pathological condition.

4. Functional alterations and changes:

The morphological changes will lead to functional alterations to produce the clinical signs &
symptoms of the disease.

Sign: Objective, seen by observer

Symptom: Generally subjective, experienced & described by patient

Two main divisions of Pathology

• ANATOMICAL (Anatomic) Pathology: The diagnosis of the disease based on the Gross
examination (Gross pathology), Microscopic examination (Histopathology), Molecular
examination of organs tissues (Molecular pathology), Dead bodies examination
(Necropsy).

• General Pathology and Systemic Pathology

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• CLINICAL Pathology: The diagnosis of the disease based on the laboratory analysis of
bodily fluids (blood, urine, tissue aspirates) using the tools of chemistry and hematology.

• Forensic pathology: Determining cause of death, usually for criminal law cases
and civil law cases in some jurisdictions.

In summary, pathology studies: etiology,

pathogenesis, morphological changes, clinical
features, diagnosis and prognosis of all
diseases.