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13 Cards in this Set

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  • Back
Define: cytopathology
Study of disease at the cellular level.
Are exfoliative cells useful?
Yes. They can give valuable info. Cells from skin, urine, lungs, etc.
Cancers are usually diagnosed by examining the ____(cellular level).
nucleus - nucleus grows and becomes irregular
Chromatin should usually look powdery, while in cancer cells they appear ____.
clumped
Pap smear test for detection of cervical cancer was a triumph and a tragedy. Explain.
Triumph: Most successful cancer detection system.
Tragedy: up to 20% false negative from physician/laboratory error
What changes have been made to pap smear methods?
Using thin prep = cervical brush instead of spatula, thus not discarding anything. Can make many smears this way. Further, smear is immediately preserved, rather than wiped on slide, and then preserved.
Besides cancer, what else can be diagnosed with a pap smear?
Parasitic, fungal, viral infxns.
What are koilocytes?
A type of dysplastic squamous cell found in potentially precancerous cervical lesions. They have the following characteristics:
Nuclear enlargement
Irregularity in the nuclear contour
Hyperchromasia
Perinuclear clearing
Koilocytosis
Cellular changes in which cells appear to have halo nuclei on cytologic examination. A more differentiated koilocyte, possessing a more hyperchromatic and enlarged nucleus, and a higher degree of cytoplasmic clearing with a discernible peripheral rim favor an interpretation of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion. These changes occur in the presence of hpv, and occasionally can lead to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, and eventually malignant cancer.
Tzanck test:
Scraping of an ulcer base to look for Tzanck cells. It is sometimes also called the Chickenpox skin test and the herpes skin test.
Tzanck cells are multi-nucleated, giant cells.
Tzanck cells are found in (4):
1. Herpes simplex
2. Varicella and herpes zoster
3. Pemphigus vulgaris
4. Cytomegalovirus
What is pemphigus?
A rare group of autoimmune blistering diseases that affect the skin and mucous membranes.
Autoantibodies form against desmoglein, which is the "glue" that attaches adjacent epidermal cells via attachment points called desmosomes. When autoantibodies attack desmogleins, the cells become separated from each other and the epidermis becomes "unglued" (acantholysis).
Acantholysis:
The loss of intracellular connections resulting in loss of cohesion between keratinocytes, seen in diseases such as pemphigus vulgaris.