General Basis

of Pathologic Condition
Pathology
 The study of diseases that can cause
abnormalities in the structure or function of
various organ systems
 disease- the pattern of response of the body
to some form of injury
– hereditary, traumatic, infectious, vascular or
metabolic
 disease- reflect alteration of cell growth
- tumor, iatrogenic, idiopathic
Basic reactions of the body
 Inflammation
 edema
 ischemia and infarction
 hemorrhage
 alteration of cell growth leading to
development of neoplasms (tumors)
 hereditary diseases
 immune reactions eg. AIDS
INFLAMMATION
Hyperemia
 Earliest response to local injury
Dilatation of arterioles, capillaries, and
venules
producing heat and redness

increase permeability allowing passage of a

protein rich plasma across vessel walls into the
interstitium

exudate produces swelling and pressure on

sensitive nerve endings causing pain
Types of Inflammation

 Acute
 Chronic
Acute inflammation
 initial response of the body tissues to local
injury.

– Types of injury:
 blunt or penetrating trauma
 infectious organisms
 irritating chemical substances
 Clinical signs
of acute inflammation
 Rubor (redness)
 Calor (heat)
 Dolor (pain)
 Tumor (swelling)
 Loss of function
Chronic Inflammation
 Lasts for extended period of time
 Sublethal degeneration

Examples: asthma, hay fever, allergies

Systemic manifestations
 Fever
 increase in the number of circulating white
blood cells (leukocytosis)
 Toxins (pyogens) produced by bacteria
causing pus formation/ abscess
 Granuloma- localized area of chronic
inflammation , accumulation of
macrophages
EDEMA-Accumulation of
abnormal amounts of fluid
in the intercellular tissue
spaces or body cavities
ISCHEMIA AND INFARCTION
Ischemia
 refers to interference with the blood supply
to an organ or part of an organ that deprives
its cells and tissues of oxygen and nutrients
– May be caused by narrowing of arterial
structures eg. Atherosclerosis or
thrombotic/embolic occlusion
Infarction
 Localized area of ischemic necrosis (death)
within a tissue or organ produced by
occlusion or either its arterial or venous
drainage
– Eg: myocardial infarction, pulmonary infarction
– Twisting of organ can also compromise blood
supply and eventual infarction as in volvulus of
the intestine
HEMORRHAGE
 Implies rupture of blood vessel as in injury
like trauma, atherosclerosis, inflammatory
or neoplastic erosion of the vessel wall
 External or internal
 Trapped within body tissues-hematoma
 Accumulation in body cavity- hemothorax,
hemopericardium, hemoperitoneum,
hemarthrosis
Signs of bleeding

 Petechiae- minimal hemorrhages into the

skin, mucous membranes or serosal
surfaces- petechiae
 Purpura- slightly larger
 Ecchymosis- large greater than 1-2 cm
subcutaneous hematoma or bruise
 ALTERATION
OF CELL GROWTH
 Atrophy- reduction in size or number of cells with
corresponding decrease in function eg. Disuse
atrophy
 Hypoplasia/aplasia- failure of normal
development- small size
 Hypertrophy- increase in size of cells of a tissue
or organ in response to a demand for increased
function eg. Heart, skeletal muscle
 Hyperplasia- increase in the number of cells eg.
Thyroid, adrenal gland, bone marrow
 Dysplasia – loss of uniformity and architechtural
orientation of cells, potentially premalignant
NEOPLASIA
 Means “new growth”
 Abnormal proliferation of cells that are no
longer controlled by factors that govern the
growth of normal cells
 Neoplastic cells act as parasites competing
with normal cells and tissues for their
metabolic needs. (patient will then have a
condition called cachexia)
 Types of neoplasm

– Benign
– Malignant
Benign
 Closely resembles cell of origin in structure and
function
 Remain localized
 Do not spread to other sites
 Usually be surgically removed with survival of the
patient
 Potentially dangerous depending on location, eg.
Brain, pancreas,trachea, esophagus
Malignant
 Invade and destroy adjacent structures
 Spread to distant sites (metastasize) to
cause death
 Tend to be poorly differentiated (difficult to
determine the organ from which they arise
 Collectively referred to as Cancers- term
derived from latin word “crab”