WGU D236 PATHOPHYSIOLOGY STUDY GUIDE 2026-
2027 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Insufficient blood flow to a part of the body is defined as:
a. hypoxia.
b. hypoxemia.
c. necrosis.
d. ischemia. - ✔✔D
✔✔A cellular change, which is often precancerous, is called:
a. hyperplasia.
b. metaplasia.
c. dysplasia.
d. hypertrophy. - ✔✔C
✔✔Which of the following changes is indicative of irreversible cell injury?
a. sodium influx into the cytoplasm
b. glycolysis (anaerobic metabolism)
c. detachment of ribosomes from rough endoplasmic reticulum
d. release of lysosomal enzymes - ✔✔D
✔✔Which of the following best describes reperfusion injury?
a. The increased blood pressure in the area of reperfusion causes rupture of small
arterioles and release of free radicals.
b. The return of blood flow to the area results in a burst of free radical production from
neutrophils that accumulated in the area.
c. Reperfusion injury results from restoration of the function of the sodium-potassium
pump.
d. Reperfusion of the area results in apoptosis of the previously ischemic cells. - ✔✔B
✔✔Which of the following best describes free radicals?
a. stable molecules not normally found in the body, but introduced exogenously during
ischemia
b. unstable molecules that are normal products of oxidative metabolism and are
removed by endogenous antioxidants
c. stable molecules that have an affinity for iron in the cytoplasm of the cell
d. none of the above - ✔✔B
✔✔The usual fate of apoptotic cells is which of the following?
a. metaplastic transformation
b. calcification
c. hypertrophy
d. phagocytosis
e. neoplastic transformation - ✔✔D
,✔✔Which of the following statements is true regarding the difference between cell
necrosis and apoptosis?
a. Apoptosis is a more rapid process.
b. Apoptosis is usually initiated by ischemia-induced cell injury.
c. Apoptosis is genetically controlled.
d. Apoptosis characteristically involves rupture of the cell membrane. - ✔✔C
✔✔You are a nurse practitioner working in an outpatient clinic. Your patient's
echocardiogram shows moderate aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve). You
know that the stenotic valve creates an increased resistance against which the left
ventricle contracts. The cellular adaptation most likely to occur in the left ventricle is
which of the following?
a. atrophy
b. hypertrophy
c. hyperplasia
d. metaplasia - ✔✔B
✔✔Select the condition that is an example of physiologic hyperplasia.
a. breast enlargement during puberty
b. endometrial hyperplasia from excessive estrogen stimulation
c. prostatic hyperplasia occurring as men age
d. none of the above are physiologic - ✔✔A
✔✔Your patient has a long history of mitral stenosis (narrowing of the mitral valve). As
the years go by, the left atrium, which contracts against the increased resistance of the
stenotic valve, begins to fail--and output from the left ventricle begins to decline. If the
left ventricle were to undergo adaptation, what would it most likely be?
a. atrophy.
b. hypertrophy.
c. hyperplasia.
d. metaplasia. - ✔✔A
✔✔Which of the following is not characteristic of cellular dysplasia?
a. variation in size and shape of cells
b. small, pale nuclei
c. disorderly arrangement of cells
d. preneoplastic change - ✔✔B
✔✔If a normal individual began to take cortisol 100 mgs. every day as a medication,
which of the following would result?
a. hypertrophy of the adrenal gland
b. hyperplasia of the adrenal gland
c. atrophy of the adrenal gland
d. hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the adrenal gland - ✔✔C
, ✔✔If a normal individual began to take thyroid hormone 100 mcgs. every day as a
medication, which of the following would result?
a. hypertrophy of the thyroid gland
b. hyperplasia of the thyroid gland
c. atrophy of the thyroid gland
d. hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the thyroid gland - ✔✔B
✔✔Chronic alcoholism can result in the development of a fatty liver because it results in
which of the following?
a. increased production of free fatty acids
b. increased conversion of free fatty acids to triglycerides
c. decreased oxidation of cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids
d. decreased binding of cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids to apoproteins -
✔✔A
✔✔Which of the following is the primary difference between wet and dry gangrene?
a. Infection and inflammation are present in wet gangrene.
b. Wet gangrene results from arterial occlusion and dry gangrene from venous stasis.
c. Dry gangrene involves the presence of Clostridium perfringens.
d. Wet gangrene occurs only in internal organs. - ✔✔E
✔✔Which of the following components is not involved in apoptosis?
a. Bcl-2
b. apaf-1
c. caspase 9
d. cytochrome c
e. HLA 2 - ✔✔E
✔✔Some cancer-causing viruses are able to protect the cells that they transform from
undergoing apoptosis by interfering with the action of the apoptosis promoter called:
a. TNF-alpha.
b. Fas.
c. p53.
d. IL-2.
e. INF-beta. - ✔✔C
✔✔Which of the following diseases is thought to be related to free radical damage?
a. osteoarthritis
b. detached retina
c. cerebral aneurysm
d. cancer - ✔✔D
2027 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔Insufficient blood flow to a part of the body is defined as:
a. hypoxia.
b. hypoxemia.
c. necrosis.
d. ischemia. - ✔✔D
✔✔A cellular change, which is often precancerous, is called:
a. hyperplasia.
b. metaplasia.
c. dysplasia.
d. hypertrophy. - ✔✔C
✔✔Which of the following changes is indicative of irreversible cell injury?
a. sodium influx into the cytoplasm
b. glycolysis (anaerobic metabolism)
c. detachment of ribosomes from rough endoplasmic reticulum
d. release of lysosomal enzymes - ✔✔D
✔✔Which of the following best describes reperfusion injury?
a. The increased blood pressure in the area of reperfusion causes rupture of small
arterioles and release of free radicals.
b. The return of blood flow to the area results in a burst of free radical production from
neutrophils that accumulated in the area.
c. Reperfusion injury results from restoration of the function of the sodium-potassium
pump.
d. Reperfusion of the area results in apoptosis of the previously ischemic cells. - ✔✔B
✔✔Which of the following best describes free radicals?
a. stable molecules not normally found in the body, but introduced exogenously during
ischemia
b. unstable molecules that are normal products of oxidative metabolism and are
removed by endogenous antioxidants
c. stable molecules that have an affinity for iron in the cytoplasm of the cell
d. none of the above - ✔✔B
✔✔The usual fate of apoptotic cells is which of the following?
a. metaplastic transformation
b. calcification
c. hypertrophy
d. phagocytosis
e. neoplastic transformation - ✔✔D
,✔✔Which of the following statements is true regarding the difference between cell
necrosis and apoptosis?
a. Apoptosis is a more rapid process.
b. Apoptosis is usually initiated by ischemia-induced cell injury.
c. Apoptosis is genetically controlled.
d. Apoptosis characteristically involves rupture of the cell membrane. - ✔✔C
✔✔You are a nurse practitioner working in an outpatient clinic. Your patient's
echocardiogram shows moderate aortic stenosis (narrowing of the aortic valve). You
know that the stenotic valve creates an increased resistance against which the left
ventricle contracts. The cellular adaptation most likely to occur in the left ventricle is
which of the following?
a. atrophy
b. hypertrophy
c. hyperplasia
d. metaplasia - ✔✔B
✔✔Select the condition that is an example of physiologic hyperplasia.
a. breast enlargement during puberty
b. endometrial hyperplasia from excessive estrogen stimulation
c. prostatic hyperplasia occurring as men age
d. none of the above are physiologic - ✔✔A
✔✔Your patient has a long history of mitral stenosis (narrowing of the mitral valve). As
the years go by, the left atrium, which contracts against the increased resistance of the
stenotic valve, begins to fail--and output from the left ventricle begins to decline. If the
left ventricle were to undergo adaptation, what would it most likely be?
a. atrophy.
b. hypertrophy.
c. hyperplasia.
d. metaplasia. - ✔✔A
✔✔Which of the following is not characteristic of cellular dysplasia?
a. variation in size and shape of cells
b. small, pale nuclei
c. disorderly arrangement of cells
d. preneoplastic change - ✔✔B
✔✔If a normal individual began to take cortisol 100 mgs. every day as a medication,
which of the following would result?
a. hypertrophy of the adrenal gland
b. hyperplasia of the adrenal gland
c. atrophy of the adrenal gland
d. hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the adrenal gland - ✔✔C
, ✔✔If a normal individual began to take thyroid hormone 100 mcgs. every day as a
medication, which of the following would result?
a. hypertrophy of the thyroid gland
b. hyperplasia of the thyroid gland
c. atrophy of the thyroid gland
d. hypertrophy and hyperplasia of the thyroid gland - ✔✔B
✔✔Chronic alcoholism can result in the development of a fatty liver because it results in
which of the following?
a. increased production of free fatty acids
b. increased conversion of free fatty acids to triglycerides
c. decreased oxidation of cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids
d. decreased binding of cholesterol, triglycerides, and phospholipids to apoproteins -
✔✔A
✔✔Which of the following is the primary difference between wet and dry gangrene?
a. Infection and inflammation are present in wet gangrene.
b. Wet gangrene results from arterial occlusion and dry gangrene from venous stasis.
c. Dry gangrene involves the presence of Clostridium perfringens.
d. Wet gangrene occurs only in internal organs. - ✔✔E
✔✔Which of the following components is not involved in apoptosis?
a. Bcl-2
b. apaf-1
c. caspase 9
d. cytochrome c
e. HLA 2 - ✔✔E
✔✔Some cancer-causing viruses are able to protect the cells that they transform from
undergoing apoptosis by interfering with the action of the apoptosis promoter called:
a. TNF-alpha.
b. Fas.
c. p53.
d. IL-2.
e. INF-beta. - ✔✔C
✔✔Which of the following diseases is thought to be related to free radical damage?
a. osteoarthritis
b. detached retina
c. cerebral aneurysm
d. cancer - ✔✔D
