Principles of Pathology

Principles of Pathology

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This section is structured around presentations on general principles in pathology, relevant for the understanding of response to injury (at cellular and tissue levels), mechanisms of injury, general etiology, and pathobiology of neoplasms. This represents the scientific bases of diagnosis and clinical practice. Relevant cases are also included in the Online Case Studies and will be cross-referenced here.


Available presentations can be accessed here:



A - CELL RESPONSE TO INJURY: CELLULAR PATHOLOGY

 

1. Cell degeneration and disease. Cell injury (I): Reversible processes. Intracellular accumulations.
2. Cell injury (II): Irreversible processes. Necrosis.  Types and pathogenesis. Pathobiology of apoptosis, autophagy, and entosis.
3. Cell injury (III): Cellular diseases due to alterations of tissue growth and adaptation. Cell regeneration and renewal.
4. Cell injury (IV): Cellular diseases due to alterations of growth and differentiation.  Metaplasia, dysplasia and anaplasia. 5. Cellular aging: Cytological bases, morphological and functional changes.


B - TISSUE RESPONSE TO INJURY (I): INFLAMMATION

 

1. Inflammation: Definition and components. Main types. 2. Acute inflammation (I): Vascular changes and mediators. 3. Acute inflammation (II): Cellular changes and mediators.
4. Chronic inflammation: General features. 5. Granulomatous inflammation: Causes and pathogenesis. 6. Inflammation: Morphologic patterns. Mechanisms of neutrophil-induced injury and systemic effects of inflammation.


C - TISSUE RESPONSE TO INJURY (II): REGENERATION, REPARATION AND SCARRING

 

1. Tissue regeneration: Classification of tissues. Extracellular matrix. 2. Reparative reaction and scar formation. Phases and types. 3. Regeneration and reparation (I): Stimuli, regulatory factors, and mechanisms.
4. Regeneration and reparation (II): Pathology of scar formation and retraction. Scarring in specific tissues.


D - MECHANISMS OF INJURY (I): IMMUNOPATHOLOGY

 

1. Humoral and cellular components of immune response. Role of HLA complex. Classification of hypersensitivity reactions. 2. Immune deficiencies: Types, mechanisms, and consequences. HIV infection. 3. Hypersensitivity types I-III: Mechanisms of antibody-mediated immunologic injury.
4. Hypersensitivity type IV: Mechanisms of cell-mediated immunologic injury. 5. Combined mechanisms of immunologic injury (I): Autoimmune response. 6. Combined mechanisms of immunologic injury (II): Reaction to transplants (types of rejection) and graph-versus-host disease.
7. Immunologic modulation: pathogenesis and consequences of amyloid deposition. 8. Methods of study in immunopathology.


E - MECHANISMS OF INJURY (II): HEMODYNAMIC DISORDERS 

 

1. Edema: General morphology and mechanisms. Hyperemia and congestion. 2. Coagulation alterations. Role of endothelial cells, platelets, and coagulation factors. 3. Local circulatory insufficiency: Types of infarcts and mechanisms.
4. General circulatory insufficiency: Shock. Mechanisms and types.


F - GENERAL ETIOLOGY (I): PATHOLOGY BY INFECTIOUS, ENVIRONMENTAL AND NUTRITIONAL AGENTS

 

1. Patterns of tissue reaction in infectious and diseases and parasite infestations. Clinico-pathologic correlation. 2. Pathology induced by chemical and physical agents. Iatrogenic lesions. 3. Nutritional disorders: Pathologic effects of obesity, malnutrition, and vitamin deficit/excess.


G - GENERAL ETIOLOGY (II): GENETIC AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISEASES 

 

1. Cytogenetic disorders: Numeric and structural chromosomal aberrations. 2. Genetic alterations (I): Concept of molecular disease. Disorders with mendelian and non-classic hereditary trait. 3. Genetic alterations (II): Morphological expression (subcellular pathology).
4. Developmental disorders: Principles of teratology. Morphogenesis errors. 5. Diagnostic methods in genetic diseases.


H - PATHOBIOLOGY OF NEOPLASMS 

Introduction

 

1A. Definition, nomenclature and general classification of neoplasms. 
1B. Molecular introduction to neoplasms.


Mechanisms of neoplastic transformation

 

General etiologic agents (chemical, physical, biological). Basic mechanisms during the neoplastic transformation. 2. Inflammation and neoplasms. 3. Stem cell biology and origins of neoplasms.
4. Initiation and promotion of tumours: concepts and mechanisms. 5. Mechanisms for preventing neoplasms: genome maintenance. 6. Mechanisms of tumour progression.
7. General mechanisms of genetic deregulation in tumours. 8. Signal transduction in neoplasms (I): growth factors and receptors. 9. Signal transduction in neoplasms (II): intracellular signalling.


Growth and spread of neoplasms

 

1. Tumor cell kinetics (I): How tumours grow. 2. Tumor cell kinetics (II): Proliferation, cell cycle and apoptosis. 3. Angiogenesis in tumour growth.
4. The metastatic process: general overview and mechanisms. 5. Intercellular adhesion and metastasis. 6. Cell-stroma interactions and metastasis.


General Oncopathology 

 

1. Malignancy criteria and grading of neoplasms. General prognostic factors. 2. Host-Tumor interactions. Effects of tumor presence and causes of death. 3. Methods for the analysis of neoplasms.




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