NEET MDS Lessons
General Pathology
Acanthosis nigricans is a pigmented skin lesion commonly present in the axilla which is a phenotypic marker for an insulin-receptor abnormality as well as a marker for adenocarcinoma, most commonly of gastric origin.
Eosinophilia:
Causes
-Allergic disorders.
-Parasitic infection.
-Skin diseases.
-Pulmonary eosinophilia.
-Myeloproliferative lesions and Hodgkin's disease.
Chronic hepatitis
Chronic hepatitis occurs in 5%-10% of HBV infections and in well over 50% of HCV; it does not occur in HAV. Most chronic disease is due to chronic persistent hepatitis. The chronic form is more likely to occur in the very old or very young, in males, in immunocompromised hosts, in Down's syndrome, and in dialysis patients.
a. Chronic persistent hepatitis is a benign, self-limited disease with a prolonged recovery. Patients are asymptomatic except for elevated transaminases.
b. Chronic active hepatitis features chronic inflammation with hepatocyte destruction, resulting in cirrhosis and liver failure.
(1) Etiology. HBV, HCV, HDV, drug toxicity, Wilson's disease, alcohol, a,-antitrypsin deficiency, and autoimmune hepatitis are common etiologies.
(2) Clinical features may include fatigue, fever, malaise, anorexia, and elevated liver function tests.
(3) Diagnosis is made by liver biopsy.
8. Carrier state for HBV and HCV may be either asymptomatic or with liver disease; in the latter case, the patient has elevate transaminases.
a. Incidence is most common in immunodeficient, drug addicted, Down's syndrome, and dialysis patients.
b. Pathology of asymptomatic carriers shows "ground-glass"" hepatocytes with finely granular eosinophilic cytoplasm.
Thyroid goitres
A goitre is any enlargement of part or whole of the thyroid gland. There are two types:
1. Toxic goitre, i.e. goitre associated with thyrotoxicosis.
2. Non-toxic goitre, i.e. goitre associated with normal or reduced levels of thyroid hormones.
Toxic goitre
Graves disease
This is the most common cause of toxic goitre
Toxic multinodular goitre
This results from the development of hyperthyroidism in a multinodular goitre
Non-toxic goitres
Diffuse non-toxic goitre (simple goitre)
This diffuse enlargement of the thyroid gland is classified into:
Endemic goitre—due to iodine deficiency. Endemic goiter occurs in geographic areas (typically mountainous)) where the soil, water, and food supply contain little iodine. The term endemic is used when goiters are present in more than 10% of the population in a given region. With increasing availability of dietary iodine supplementation, the frequency and severity of endemic goiter have declined significantly. Sporadic goiter is less common than endemic goiter. The condition is more common in females than in males, with a peak incidence in puberty or young adult life, when there is an
increased physiologic demand for T4.
Sporadic goitre—caused by goitrogenic agents (substances that induce goitre formation) or familial in origin. Examples of goitrogenic agents include certain cabbage species, because of their thiourea content, and specific drugs or chemicals, such as iodide, paraminosalicylic acid and drugs used in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis. Familial cases show inherited autosomal recessive traits, which interfere with hormone synthesis via various enzyme pathways (these are dyshormonogenic goitres).
Hereditary enzymatic defects interfering with thyroid hormone synthesis (dyshormonogenetic goiter).
Physiological goitre—enlargement of the thyroid gland in females during puberty or pregnancy; the reason is unclear.
Multinodular goitre
This is the most common cause of thyroid enlargement and is seen particularly in the elderly (nearly all simple goitres eventually become multinodular). The exact aetiology is uncertain but it may represent an uneven responsiveness of various parts of the thyroid to fluctuating TSH levels over a period of many years.
Morphological features are:
• Irregular hyperplastic enlargement of the entire thyroid gland due to the development of wellcircumscribed nodules of varying size.
• Larger nodules filled with brown, gelatinous colloid; consequently, it is often termed multinodular colloid goitres.
Clinical features
- A large neck mass, goiters may also cause airway obstruction, dysphagia, and compression of large vessels in the neck and upper thorax.
- A hyperfunctioning ("toxic") nodule may develop within a long-standing goiter, resulting in hyperthyroidism. This condition is not accompanied by the infiltrative ophthalmopathy and dermopathy.
- Less commonly, there may be hypothyroidism.
THE PITUITARY GLAND
This is a small, bean-shaped structure that lies at the base of the brain within the confines of the sella turcica. It is connected to the hypothalamus by a "stalk," composed of axons extending from the hypothalamus. The pituitary is composed of two morphologically and functionally distinct components: the anterior lobe (adenohypophysis) and the posterior lobe (neurohypophysis). The adenohypophysis, in H&E stained sections, shows a colorful collection of cells with basophilic, eosinophilic or poorly staining ("chromophobic") cytoplasm.
Adult Respiratory Distress Syndrome
A constellation of pathologic and clinical findings initiated by diffuse injury to alveolar capillaries. This syndrome is associated with a multitude of clinical conditions which primarily damage the lung or secondarily as part of a systemic disorder.
Pathogenesis
There are many types of injuries which lead to the ultimate, common pathway, i.e., damage to the alveolar capillary unit. The initial injury most frequently affects the endothelium, less frequently the alveolar epithelium. Injury produces increased vascular permeability, edema, fibrin-exudation (hyaline membranes). Leukocytes (primarily neutrophils) plays a key role in endothelial damage.
Pathology
Heavy, red lungs showing congestion and edema. The alveoli contain fluid and are lined by hyaline membranes.
Pathophysiology
Severe respiratory insufficiency with dyspnea, cyanosis and hypoxemia refractory to oxygen therapy.
Eczematous Dermatitis
Eczematous dermatitis includes a large category of skin lesions characterized by severe pruritus and distinctive gross and microscopic features.
- type I hypersensitivity is involved with atopic dermatitis in patients who have an allergic history.
- type IV hypersensitivity is involved in contact dermatitis (poison ivy).
- acute eczematous dermatitis is characterized by a weeping, pruritic rash, while a chronic eczematous dermatitis presents with dry, scaly, plaque-like thickening of the skin, a process called lichenification.