NEET MDS Lessons
General Pathology
Parkinson’s disease
a. Characterized by the degeneration of neurons in the basal ganglia, specifically the substantia nigra and striatum.
b. Histologic findings in affected neurons include Lewy bodies.
c. Clinically, the disease affects involuntary and voluntary movements. Tremors are common. Symptoms include pin-rolling tremors, slowness of movements, muscular rigidity, and shuffling gait.
Paget Disease (Osteitis Deformans)
This unique bone disease is characterized by repetitive episodes of exaggerated, regional osteoclastic activity (osteolytic stage), followed by exuberant bone formation (mixed osteoclastic-osteoblastic stage), and finally by exhaustion of cellular activity (osteosclerotic stage). The net effect of this process is a gain in bone mass; however, the newly formed bone is disordered and lacks strength. Paget disease usually does not occur until mid-adulthood but becomes progressively more common thereafter. The pathognomonic histologic feature is a mosaic pattern of lamellar bone (likened to a jigsaw puzzle) due to prominent cement lines that haphazardly fuse units of lamellar bone. (Fig. 12-5) The axial skeleton and proximal femur are involved in the majority of cases. In patients with extensive disease, hypervascularity of the marrow spaces can result in high-output congestive heart failure. Cranial nerves impingement also occurs and can lead to head ache and auditory disturbances. Rarely Paget disease is complicated by bone sarcoma (usually osteogenic).
Immunodeficiency
This may be :-
- Congenital (Primary)
- Acquired (Secondary)
Features : Complete or near complete lack of T & B lymphoid tissue. Fatal early in life Even with marrow grafting, chances of graft versus host reaction is high.
B. T Cell Defects :
- Thymic dysplasia
- Digeorge’s syndrome
- Nazelof’s syndrome
- Ataxia teltngiectaisa
- Wiscott Aldrich’s syndrome
These lessons show predominantly defective cell mediated immunity. But they may also show partial immunoglobulin defects cell mediated immunity. But they may also show partial immunoglobulin defects due to absence og T-B co-operation.
C. Humoral immunity defects.
Bruron type- aggammaglobulinaemia.
- Dysgammaglobulinaemias-variable immunodeficiency’s of one or more classes.
Acquired deficiency
A. Immuno suppression by :
- Irradiation.
- Corticoids.
- Anti metabolites.
- Anti lymphocyte serum.
B. Neaplasia of lymphoid system :
- Hodgkin's and Non Hodgkin's lymphomas.
- Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia..
- Multime myeloma and other paraproteinaemias (normal immunoglobulins reduced in spite of hyperglobulinaemia).
c. excessive protein loss.
- Nephrotic Syndrome.
- Protein losing enteropathy.
Group A Streptococcus
- scarlet fever usually begins as a Streptococcal pharyngitis/tonsillitis and then develops an erythematous rash beginning on the trunk and limbs with eventual desquamation.
- rash is due to elaboration of erythrogenic toxin by the organism
- face is usually spared, but, if involved there is a characteristic circumoral pallor and the tongue becomes bright red, thus the term "strawberry tongue".
- post-streptococcal immune complex glomerulonephritis is a possible sequela of scarlet fever.
- Dick test is a skin test that evaluates immunity against scarlet fever; no response indicates immunity (anti-toxin antibodies present); erythema indicates no immunity.
- impetigo due to Streptococcus pyogenes is characterized by honey colored, crusted lesions, while those with a predominantly bullous pattern are primarily due to Staphylococcus aureus.
- cellulitis with lymphangitis ("red streaks") is characteristic of Streptococcus pyogenes.
- hyaluronidase is a spreading factor that favors the spread of infection throughout the subcutaneous tissue unlike Staphylococcus aureus which generates coagulase to keep the pus confined.
- erysipelas refers to a raised, erythematous ("brawny edema"), hot cellulitis, usually on the face that commonly produces septicemia, if left untreated.
Growth and spread of tumours
Growth in excess of normal is a feature of all tumours but extension to tissue away from the site of origin is a feature of malignant tumours.
Modes of spread of malignant tumours
- local, invasion. This is a feature of all malignant tumors and takes place along tissue spaces and facial planes
o Lymphatic spread. Most often seen in carcinomas. This can be in the form of
o Lymphatic permeation: Where the cells extend along the lymphatics as a solid core
o Lymphatic embolisation: Where a group of tumour cells break off and get carried to the draining mode
-Vascular spread : This is a common and early mode of spread for sarcomas but certain carcinomas like renal cell carcinoma and chorio carcinoma have a predilection to early vascular spread.
Vascular spread is most often due .to invasion of venous channels and can be by permeation or embolisation.
Lungs, liver, bones and brain are the common sites for vascular metastasis but
different tumours have different organ preference for metastasis, e.g. : Bronchogenic carcinoma often spreads to liver and adrenals.
-Body cavities and natural passages
o Gastrointestinal carcinomas spread to ovaries (Krukenberg’s tomour)
Keratoses (Horny Growth)
1. Seborrheic keratosis is a common benign epidermal tumor composed of basaloid (basal cell-like) cells with increased pigmentation that produce a raised, pigmented, "stuck-on" appearance on the skin of middle-aged individuals.
- they can easily be scraped from the skin's surface.
- frequently enlarge of multiply following hormonal therapy.
- sudden appearance of large numbers of Seborrheic keratosis is a possible indication of a malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract (Leser-Trelat sign).
2. An actinic keratosis is a pre-malignant skin lesion induced by ultraviolet light damage.
- sun exposed areas.
- parakeratosis and atypia (dysplasia) of the keratinocytes.
- solar damage to underlying elastic and collagen tissue (solar elastosis).
- may progress to squamous carcinoma in situ (Bowen's disease) or invasive cancer.
3. A keratoacanthoma is characterized by the rapid growth of a crateriform lesion in 3 to 6
weeks usually on the face or upper extremity.
- it eventually regresses and involutes with scarring.
- commonly confused with a well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma.
Clinical genetics (cytogenetics),
This is a method in which inherited chromosomal abnormalities in the germ cells or acquired chromosomal abnormalities in somatic cells are investigated using the techniques of molecular biology.