NEET MDS Lessons
General Pathology
ADRENAL INSUFFICIENCY
Adrenocortical hypofunction is either primary (adrenocrtical) or secondary (ACTH deficiency). Primary insufficiency is divided into acute & chronic.
Acute Adrenocortical Insufficiency occurs most commonly in the following clinical settings
- massive adrenal hemorrhage including Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome
- Sudden withdrawal of long-term corticosteroid therapy
- Stress in those with chronic adrenal insufficiency
Massive adrenal hemorrhage may destroy the adrenal cortex sufficiently to cause acute adrenocortical
insufficiency. This condition may occur
1. in patients maintained on anticoagulant therapy
2. in postoperative patients who develop DIC
3. during pregnancy
4. in patients suffering from overwhelming sepsis (Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome)
Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome is a catastrophic syndrome classically associated with Neisseria meningitidis septicemia but can also be caused by other organisms, including Pseudomonas species, pneumococci & Haemophilus influenzae. The pathogenesis of the syndrome remains unclear, but probably involves endotoxin-induced vascular injury with associated DIC.
Chronic adrenocortical insufficiency (Addison disease) results from progressive destruction of the adrenal cortex. More than 90% of all cases are attributable to one of four disorders:
1. autoimmune adrenalitis (the most common cause; 70% of cases)
2. tuberculosis &fungal infections
3. AIDS
4. Metastatic cancers
In such primary diseases, there is hyperpigmentation of the skin oral mucosa due to high levels of MSH (associated with high levels of ACTH).
Autoimmune adrenalitis is due to autoimmune destruction of steroid-producing cells. It is either isolated associated other autoimmune diseases, such as Hashimoto disease, pernicious anemia, etc.
Infections, particularly tuberculous and fungal
Tuberculous adrenalitis, which once was responsible for as many as 90% of cases of Addison disease, has become less common with the advent of antituberculous therapy. When present, tuberculous adrenalitis is usually associated with active infection elsewhere, particularly the lungs and genitourinary tract. Among fungi, disseminated infections caused by Histoplasma capsulatum is the main cause.
AIDS patients are at risk for developing adrenal insufficiency from several infectious (cytomegalovirus, Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare) and noninfectious (Kaposi sarcoma) complications.
Metastatic neoplasms: the adrenals are a fairly common site for metastases in persons with disseminated carcinomas. Although adrenal function is preserved in most such patients, the metastatic growths sometimes destroy sufficient adrenal cortex to produce a degree of adrenal insufficiency. Carcinomas of the lung and breast are the major primary sources.
Secondary Adrenocortical Insufficiency
Any disorder of the hypothalamus and pituitary, such as metastatic cancer, infection, infarction, or irradiation, that reduces the output of ACTH leads to a syndrome of hypoadrenalism having many similarities to Addison disease. In such secondary disease, the hyperpigmentation of primary Addison disease is lacking because melanotropic hormone levels are low.
Secondary adrenocortical insufficiency is characterized by low serum ACTH and a prompt rise in plasma cortisol levels in response to ACTH administration.
Pathological features of adrenocortical deficiency
- The appearance of the adrenal glands varies with the cause of the insufficiency.
- In secondary hypoadrenalism the adrenals are reduced to small, uniform, thin rim of atrophic yellow cortex that surrounds a central, intact medulla. Histologically, there is atrophy of cortical cells with loss of cytoplasmic lipid, particularly in the zonae fasciculata and reticularis.
- In primary autoimmune adrenalitis there is also atrophy of the cortex associated with a variable lymphoid infiltrate that may extend into the subjacent medulla. The medulla is otherwise normal.
- In tuberculosis or fungal diseases there is granulomatous inflammatory reaction. Demonstration of the responsible organism may require the use of special stains.
- With metastatic carcinoma, the adrenals are enlarged and their normal architecture is obscured by the infiltrating neoplasm.
PERTUSSIS (Whooping Cough)
An acute, highly communicable bacterial disease caused by Bordetella pertussis and characterized by a paroxysmal or spasmodic cough that usually ends in a prolonged, high-pitched, crowing inspiration (the whoop).
Transmission is by aspiration of B. pertussis
Symptoms and Signs
The incubation period averages 7 to 14 days (maximum, 3 wk). B. pertussis invades the mucosa of the nasopharynx, trachea, bronchi, and bronchioles, increasing the secretion of mucus, which is initially thin and later viscid and tenacious. The uncomplicated disease lasts about 6 to 10 wk and consists of three stages: catarrhal, paroxysmal, and convalescent.
Cholelithiasis (Biliary calculi)
- These are insoluble material found within the biliary tract and are formed of bile constituents (cholesterol, bile pigments and calcium salts).
Sites: - -Gall bladder, extra hepatic biliary tract. Rarely, intrahepatic biliary tract.
Predisposing factors:-
- Change in the composition of bile. - It is the disturbance of the ratio between cholesterol and lecithin or bile salts which may be due to Hypercholesterolaemia which may be hereditary or the 4 F (Female, Forty, Fatty, Fertile). Drugs as clofibrate and exogenous estrogen. High intake of calories (obesity).
Increased concentration of bilirubin in bile- pigment stones
Hypercalcaemia:- Calcium carbonate stones.
2- Staisis.
3- Infection.
Pathogenesis i- Nucleation or initiation of stone formation:- The nidus may be cholesterol “due to supersaturation” Bacteria, parasite
RBCs or mucous.
ii- Acceleration:- When the stone remains in the gall bladder, other constituents are added to the
nidus to form the stone.
Complications of gall stones:-
- Predispose to infection.- Chronic irritation leading to
a. Ulceration b. Squamous metaplasia & carcinoma.
Cor pulmonale
a failure of the right side of the heart. It is caused by prolonged high blood pressure in the right ventricle of the heart, which in turn is most often caused by pulmonary hypertension - prolonged high blood pressure in the arteries or veins of the lungs. People with heart disease, or lung diseases such as cystic fibrosis, are at greater risk.
Pathophysiology
There are several mechanisms leading to pulmonary hypertension and cor pulmonale:
Pulmonary vasoconstriction
Anatomic changes in vascularisation
Increased blood viscosity
Primary pulmonary hypertension
Causes
Acute:
• Massive pulmonary embolization
• Exacerbation of chronic cor pulmonale
Chronic:
• COPD
• Loss of lung tissue following trauma or surgery
Pemphigoid
1. Ulcerative lesions on the skin and oral mucosa.
2. An autoimmune disease in which patients have autoantibodies against basal cells (desmosome attachment to the basement membrane).
3. Histologically, the entire epithelium appears to separate from the connective tissue. There is no acantholysis.
4. A positive Nikolsky sign is observed.
5. Complications include blindness, due to ocular lesions present in some patients.
6. Treatment: corticosteroids.
Neutrophilia
Causes
-Pyogenic infections.
-Haemorrhage and trauma.
-Malignancies.
-Infarction.
-Myelo proliferative disorders.
DIPHTHERIA
An acute, contagious disease caused by Corynebacterium diphtheriae, characterized by the formation of a fibrinous pseudomembrane, usually on the respiratory mucosa, and by myocardial and neural tissue damage secondary to an exotoxin.
Cutaneous diphtheria (infection of the skin) can occur when any disruption of the integument is colonized by C. diphtheriae. Lacerations, abrasions, ulcers, burns, and other wounds are potential reservoirs of the organism. Skin carriage of C. diphtheriae is also a silent reservoir of infection.
Pathology
C. diphtheriae may produce exotoxins lethal to the adjacent host cells. Occasionally, the primary site is the skin or mucosa elsewhere. The exotoxin, carried by the blood, also damages cells in distant organs, creating pathologic lesions in the respiratory passages, oropharynx, myocardium, nervous system, and kidneys.
The myocardium may show fatty degeneration or fibrosis. Degenerative changes in cranial or peripheral nerves occur chiefly in the motor fibers
In severe cases, anterior horn cells and anterior and posterior nerve roots may show damage proportional to the duration of infection before antitoxin is given. The kidneys may show a reversible interstitial nephritis with extensive cellular infiltration.
The diphtheria bacillus first destroys a layer of superficial epithelium, usually in patches, and the resulting exudate coagulates to form a grayish pseudomembrane containing bacteria, fibrin, leukocytes, and necrotic epithelial cells. However, the areas of bacterial multiplication and toxin absorption are wider and deeper than indicated by the size of the membrane formed in the wake of the spreading infection.