PA (ASCP) Certification Exam
Hypertrophy - ANSIncreased cell and organ size, often in response to increased workload:
induced by mechanical stress and by growth factors; occurs in tissue incapable of cell
division
Hyperplasia - ANSIncreased cell numbers in response to hormones and other growth
factors; occurs in tissues whose cells are able to divide
Atrophy - ANSDecreased cell and organ size, as a result of decreased nutrient supply or
disuse: associated with decreased synthesis and increased proteolytic breakdown of cellular
organelles
Metaplasia - ANSChange in phenotype of differentiated cells, often a response to chronic
irritation that makes cells better able to withstand the stress
Hypoxia - ANSOxygen deficiency which interferes with aerobic oxidative respirations and is
an extremely important and common cause of cell injury and death
Ischemic - ANSLoss of blood supply in a tissue due to impeded arterial flow or reduced
venous drainage
Coagulative necrosis - ANSA form of tissue necrosis in which the component cells are dead
but the basic tissue architecture is preserved for at least several days
Liquefactive necrosis - ANSA form of necrosis seen in focal bacterial or occasionally fungal
infections because microbes stimulate the accumulation of inflammatory cells and the
enzymes of leukocytes digest the tissue
Caseous necrosis - ANSA form of necrosis encountered most often in foci of tuberculous
infections
Fat necrosis - ANSTerm referring to focal areas of fat destruction, typically resulting from
release of activated pancreatic lipases into the peritoneal cavity
Fibrinous necrosis - ANSA special form of necrosis usually seen in immune reactions
involving blood vessels
Autophagy - ANSLysosomal digestion of the cell's own components
Apoptosis - ANSA pathway of cell death that is induced by a tightly regulated suicide
program in which the cells destined to die activate enzymes capable of degrading the cells
own nuclear DNA
,Steatosis (fatty change) - ANSRefers to any abnormal accumulation of triglycerides within
parenchymal cells It is most often seen in the liver
Dystrophic calcification - ANSDepositions of calcium at sites of cell injury and necrosis
Metastatic calcification - ANSDeposition of calcium in normal tissues, caused by
hypercalcemia (usually a consequence of parathyroid hormone excess)
Inflammation - ANSA protective response intended to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury
as well as the necrotic cells and tissues resulting from the original insult
Acute inflammation - ANSA rapid response to injury or microbes and other foreign substance
that is designed to deliver leukocytes and plasma proteins to sites of injury
Serous inflammation - ANSFluid in a serous cavity
Serous inflammation is marked by fluid transudates, reflecting moderately increased
vascular permeability. Such accumulations in the peritoneal, pleural, and pericardial cavities
are called effusions;
Effusion - ANSFluid in a serous cavity ,
Fibrinous inflammation - ANSInflammation occurring as a consequence of more severe
injuries, resulting in greater vascular permeability that allows large molecules (such as
fibrinogen) to pass the endothelial barrier
Abscess - ANSFocal collections of pus that may be caused by seeding of pyogenic
organisms into a tissue or by secondary infections of necrotic foci
Ulcer - ANSA local defect or excavation of the surface of an organ or tissue that is produced
by necrosis of cells and sloughing of inflammatory necrotic tissue
Cytokines - ANSPolypeptide products of many cell types that function as mediators of
inflammation and immune responses
Chronic inflammation - ANSProlonged inflammation in which active inflammation, tissue
injury, and healing proceed simultaneously
Granulomatous inflammation - ANSA distinctive pattern of chronic inflammation
characterized by aggregates of activated macrophages that assume an epithelioid
appearance
Repair - ANSThe restoration of tissue architecture and function after an injury
Regeneration - ANSThe process of replacing damaged tissue components and essentially
returning to a normal state
, Fibrosis - ANSThe extensive deposition of collagen that occurs in the lungs, liver, kidney and
other organs as a consequence of chronic inflammation
Angiogenesis - ANSA critical process in healing at sites of ischemia where a preexisting
vessel sends out capillary sprouts to produce new vessels
Keloid - ANSA prominent raised scar caused by the accumulation of exuberant amounts of
collagen
Edema - ANSSignificant increased fluid in the interstitial tissue spaces
Anasarca - ANSSevere and generalized edema with profound subcutaneous tissue swelling
Hyperemia - ANSA local increase in blood volume that is an active process from augmented
blood flow due to arteriolar dilation
Congestion - ANSA local increase in blood volume that is a passive process resulting from
impaired venous return out of a tissue
Hematoma - ANSThe accumulation of blood confined within a tissue after a hemorrhage
Normal hemostasis - ANSA tightly regulated process that maintains blood in a fluid, clot-free
state in normal vessels while inducing the rapid formation of a localized hemostatic plug at
the site of vascular injury
Thrombosis - ANSBlood clot (thrombus) formation in uninjured vessels or thrombotic
occlusion of a vessel after relatively minor injury
Lines of Zahn - ANSThe grossly and microscopically apparent lamination in a thrombi
representing pale platelet and fibrin layers alternating with darker erythrocyte-rich layers
Embolism - ANSA detached intravascular solid, liquid, or gaseous mass that is carried by the
blood to a site distant from its point of origin
Infarct - ANSAn area of ischemic necrosis caused by occlusion of either the arterial supply or
the venous drainage in a particular tissue
Shock - ANSThe final common pathway for a number of potentially lethal events that causes
systemic hypoperfusion due to either reduced cardiac output or reduced circulating blood
volume
Systemic Lupus Erythematous - ANSA multisystem autoimmune remitting and relapsing
disease that primarily affects the skin, kidneys, serosal membranes joints and heart
Rheumatoid Arthritis - ANSA systemic, chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease affecting
many tissues but principally attacking the joints to produce a nonsuppurative synovitis.
Hypertrophy - ANSIncreased cell and organ size, often in response to increased workload:
induced by mechanical stress and by growth factors; occurs in tissue incapable of cell
division
Hyperplasia - ANSIncreased cell numbers in response to hormones and other growth
factors; occurs in tissues whose cells are able to divide
Atrophy - ANSDecreased cell and organ size, as a result of decreased nutrient supply or
disuse: associated with decreased synthesis and increased proteolytic breakdown of cellular
organelles
Metaplasia - ANSChange in phenotype of differentiated cells, often a response to chronic
irritation that makes cells better able to withstand the stress
Hypoxia - ANSOxygen deficiency which interferes with aerobic oxidative respirations and is
an extremely important and common cause of cell injury and death
Ischemic - ANSLoss of blood supply in a tissue due to impeded arterial flow or reduced
venous drainage
Coagulative necrosis - ANSA form of tissue necrosis in which the component cells are dead
but the basic tissue architecture is preserved for at least several days
Liquefactive necrosis - ANSA form of necrosis seen in focal bacterial or occasionally fungal
infections because microbes stimulate the accumulation of inflammatory cells and the
enzymes of leukocytes digest the tissue
Caseous necrosis - ANSA form of necrosis encountered most often in foci of tuberculous
infections
Fat necrosis - ANSTerm referring to focal areas of fat destruction, typically resulting from
release of activated pancreatic lipases into the peritoneal cavity
Fibrinous necrosis - ANSA special form of necrosis usually seen in immune reactions
involving blood vessels
Autophagy - ANSLysosomal digestion of the cell's own components
Apoptosis - ANSA pathway of cell death that is induced by a tightly regulated suicide
program in which the cells destined to die activate enzymes capable of degrading the cells
own nuclear DNA
,Steatosis (fatty change) - ANSRefers to any abnormal accumulation of triglycerides within
parenchymal cells It is most often seen in the liver
Dystrophic calcification - ANSDepositions of calcium at sites of cell injury and necrosis
Metastatic calcification - ANSDeposition of calcium in normal tissues, caused by
hypercalcemia (usually a consequence of parathyroid hormone excess)
Inflammation - ANSA protective response intended to eliminate the initial cause of cell injury
as well as the necrotic cells and tissues resulting from the original insult
Acute inflammation - ANSA rapid response to injury or microbes and other foreign substance
that is designed to deliver leukocytes and plasma proteins to sites of injury
Serous inflammation - ANSFluid in a serous cavity
Serous inflammation is marked by fluid transudates, reflecting moderately increased
vascular permeability. Such accumulations in the peritoneal, pleural, and pericardial cavities
are called effusions;
Effusion - ANSFluid in a serous cavity ,
Fibrinous inflammation - ANSInflammation occurring as a consequence of more severe
injuries, resulting in greater vascular permeability that allows large molecules (such as
fibrinogen) to pass the endothelial barrier
Abscess - ANSFocal collections of pus that may be caused by seeding of pyogenic
organisms into a tissue or by secondary infections of necrotic foci
Ulcer - ANSA local defect or excavation of the surface of an organ or tissue that is produced
by necrosis of cells and sloughing of inflammatory necrotic tissue
Cytokines - ANSPolypeptide products of many cell types that function as mediators of
inflammation and immune responses
Chronic inflammation - ANSProlonged inflammation in which active inflammation, tissue
injury, and healing proceed simultaneously
Granulomatous inflammation - ANSA distinctive pattern of chronic inflammation
characterized by aggregates of activated macrophages that assume an epithelioid
appearance
Repair - ANSThe restoration of tissue architecture and function after an injury
Regeneration - ANSThe process of replacing damaged tissue components and essentially
returning to a normal state
, Fibrosis - ANSThe extensive deposition of collagen that occurs in the lungs, liver, kidney and
other organs as a consequence of chronic inflammation
Angiogenesis - ANSA critical process in healing at sites of ischemia where a preexisting
vessel sends out capillary sprouts to produce new vessels
Keloid - ANSA prominent raised scar caused by the accumulation of exuberant amounts of
collagen
Edema - ANSSignificant increased fluid in the interstitial tissue spaces
Anasarca - ANSSevere and generalized edema with profound subcutaneous tissue swelling
Hyperemia - ANSA local increase in blood volume that is an active process from augmented
blood flow due to arteriolar dilation
Congestion - ANSA local increase in blood volume that is a passive process resulting from
impaired venous return out of a tissue
Hematoma - ANSThe accumulation of blood confined within a tissue after a hemorrhage
Normal hemostasis - ANSA tightly regulated process that maintains blood in a fluid, clot-free
state in normal vessels while inducing the rapid formation of a localized hemostatic plug at
the site of vascular injury
Thrombosis - ANSBlood clot (thrombus) formation in uninjured vessels or thrombotic
occlusion of a vessel after relatively minor injury
Lines of Zahn - ANSThe grossly and microscopically apparent lamination in a thrombi
representing pale platelet and fibrin layers alternating with darker erythrocyte-rich layers
Embolism - ANSA detached intravascular solid, liquid, or gaseous mass that is carried by the
blood to a site distant from its point of origin
Infarct - ANSAn area of ischemic necrosis caused by occlusion of either the arterial supply or
the venous drainage in a particular tissue
Shock - ANSThe final common pathway for a number of potentially lethal events that causes
systemic hypoperfusion due to either reduced cardiac output or reduced circulating blood
volume
Systemic Lupus Erythematous - ANSA multisystem autoimmune remitting and relapsing
disease that primarily affects the skin, kidneys, serosal membranes joints and heart
Rheumatoid Arthritis - ANSA systemic, chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease affecting
many tissues but principally attacking the joints to produce a nonsuppurative synovitis.
