Ace your Patho Exam 1 with the verified
Porth's Pathophysiology Test Bank (11th
Edition). Updated for 2026, this guide features
accurate questions and detailed rationales for
Norris.
Atrophy - Answer-When confronted with a decrease in work demands or adverse environmental
conditions, most cells are able to revert to a smaller size and a lower and more efficient level of
functioning that is compatible with survival.
What happens when cells atrophy? - Answer-Reduce their oxygen consumption and other
cellular functions by decreasing the number and size of their organelles and other structures.
Fewer mitochondria, myofilaments, and endoplasmic reticulum structures.
When a sufficient number of cells are involved, the entire tissue or muscle atrophies.
As workload of a cell declines... - Answer-oxygen consumption and protein synthesis decrease.
The general causes of atrophy can be grouped into five categories: - Answer-1. Disuse
2. Denervation
3. Loss of endocrine stimulation
4. Inadequate nutrition
5. Ischemia or decreased blood flow
,When does disuse atrophy occur? - Answer-When there is a reduction in skeletal muscle use.
Lack of endocrine stimulation produces a form.
Ex. Cast
What is denervation atrophy - Answer-Occurs in the muscles of paralyzed limbs.
In women, the loss of estrogen stimulation during menopause results: - Answer-In atrophic
changes in the reproductive organs.
With malnutrition and decreased blood flow, cells? - Answer-decrease their size and energy
requirements as a means of survival.
Hypertrophy - Answer-Represents an increase in cell size and with it an increase in the amount
of functioning tissue mass
Where is hypertrophy commonly seen? - Answer-commonly seen in cardiac and skeletal muscle
tissue, which cannot adapt to an increase in workload through mitotic division and formation of
more cells.
Pathologic hypertrophy occurs as the result of - Answer-disease conditions and may be adaptive
or compensatory.
Examples of adaptive hypertrophy are the thickening of the urinary bladder from long-
continued obstruction of urinary outflow and the myocardial hypertrophy that results from
valvular heart disease or hypertension. - Answer-
,Compensatory hypertrophy is the - Answer-enlargement of a remaining organ or tissue after a
portion has been surgically removed or rendered inactive.
Example : if one kidney is removed, the remaining kidney enlarges to compensate for the loss.
Intracellular signaling cascades promote - Answer-protein synthesis and protein stability in
which both can increase cardiomyocyte size
Hyperplasia refers to - Answer-an increase in the number of cells in an organ or tissue.
It occurs in tissues with cells that are capable of mitotic division, such as the epidermis,
intestinal epithelium, and glandular tissue
Hyperplasia involves activation of - Answer-genes controlling cell proliferation and the presence
of intracellular messengers that control cell replication and growth
What kind of process is hyperplasia, and what is it in a response to? - Answer-Controlled process
that occurs in response to an appropriate stimulus and ceases after the stimulus has been
removed
What are the 2 types of physiologic hyperplasia: - Answer-hormonal and compensatory.
Breast and uterine enlargements during pregnancy are examples of a physiologic hyperplasia
that results from estrogen stimulation. - Answer-
The regeneration of the liver that occurs after partial hepatectomy (i.e., partial removal of the
liver) is an example of compensatory hyperplasia - Answer-
, Hyperplasia is also an important response of - Answer-connective tissue in wound healing,
during which proliferating fibroblasts and blood vessels contribute to wound repair.
Although hypertrophy and hyperplasia are two distinct processes, they may occur together and
are often triggered by the same mechanism
For example, the pregnant uterus undergoes both hypertrophy and hyperplasia as the result of
estrogen stimulation
Nonphysiologic hyperplasia are due to - Answer-excessive hormonal stimulation or the effects of
growth factors on target tissue
Metaplasia represents what kind of change? - Answer-reversible change in which one adult cell
type (epithelial or mesenchymal) is replaced by another adult cell type.
Metaplasia is thought to involve the: - Answer-reprogramming of undifferentiated stem cells
that are present in the tissue undergoing the metaplastic changes.1
Metaplasia usually occurs in response to - Answer-chronic irritation and inflammation and
allows for substitution of cells that are better able to survive under circumstances in which a
more fragile cell type might succumb
Dysplasia is characterized by - Answer-deranged cell growth of a specific tissue that results in
cells that vary in size, shape, and organization.
Although dysplasia is abnormal, it is - Answer-adaptive in that it is potentially reversible after
the irritating cause has been removed.
Dysplasia is strongly implicated as a precursor of - Answer-cancer
Porth's Pathophysiology Test Bank (11th
Edition). Updated for 2026, this guide features
accurate questions and detailed rationales for
Norris.
Atrophy - Answer-When confronted with a decrease in work demands or adverse environmental
conditions, most cells are able to revert to a smaller size and a lower and more efficient level of
functioning that is compatible with survival.
What happens when cells atrophy? - Answer-Reduce their oxygen consumption and other
cellular functions by decreasing the number and size of their organelles and other structures.
Fewer mitochondria, myofilaments, and endoplasmic reticulum structures.
When a sufficient number of cells are involved, the entire tissue or muscle atrophies.
As workload of a cell declines... - Answer-oxygen consumption and protein synthesis decrease.
The general causes of atrophy can be grouped into five categories: - Answer-1. Disuse
2. Denervation
3. Loss of endocrine stimulation
4. Inadequate nutrition
5. Ischemia or decreased blood flow
,When does disuse atrophy occur? - Answer-When there is a reduction in skeletal muscle use.
Lack of endocrine stimulation produces a form.
Ex. Cast
What is denervation atrophy - Answer-Occurs in the muscles of paralyzed limbs.
In women, the loss of estrogen stimulation during menopause results: - Answer-In atrophic
changes in the reproductive organs.
With malnutrition and decreased blood flow, cells? - Answer-decrease their size and energy
requirements as a means of survival.
Hypertrophy - Answer-Represents an increase in cell size and with it an increase in the amount
of functioning tissue mass
Where is hypertrophy commonly seen? - Answer-commonly seen in cardiac and skeletal muscle
tissue, which cannot adapt to an increase in workload through mitotic division and formation of
more cells.
Pathologic hypertrophy occurs as the result of - Answer-disease conditions and may be adaptive
or compensatory.
Examples of adaptive hypertrophy are the thickening of the urinary bladder from long-
continued obstruction of urinary outflow and the myocardial hypertrophy that results from
valvular heart disease or hypertension. - Answer-
,Compensatory hypertrophy is the - Answer-enlargement of a remaining organ or tissue after a
portion has been surgically removed or rendered inactive.
Example : if one kidney is removed, the remaining kidney enlarges to compensate for the loss.
Intracellular signaling cascades promote - Answer-protein synthesis and protein stability in
which both can increase cardiomyocyte size
Hyperplasia refers to - Answer-an increase in the number of cells in an organ or tissue.
It occurs in tissues with cells that are capable of mitotic division, such as the epidermis,
intestinal epithelium, and glandular tissue
Hyperplasia involves activation of - Answer-genes controlling cell proliferation and the presence
of intracellular messengers that control cell replication and growth
What kind of process is hyperplasia, and what is it in a response to? - Answer-Controlled process
that occurs in response to an appropriate stimulus and ceases after the stimulus has been
removed
What are the 2 types of physiologic hyperplasia: - Answer-hormonal and compensatory.
Breast and uterine enlargements during pregnancy are examples of a physiologic hyperplasia
that results from estrogen stimulation. - Answer-
The regeneration of the liver that occurs after partial hepatectomy (i.e., partial removal of the
liver) is an example of compensatory hyperplasia - Answer-
, Hyperplasia is also an important response of - Answer-connective tissue in wound healing,
during which proliferating fibroblasts and blood vessels contribute to wound repair.
Although hypertrophy and hyperplasia are two distinct processes, they may occur together and
are often triggered by the same mechanism
For example, the pregnant uterus undergoes both hypertrophy and hyperplasia as the result of
estrogen stimulation
Nonphysiologic hyperplasia are due to - Answer-excessive hormonal stimulation or the effects of
growth factors on target tissue
Metaplasia represents what kind of change? - Answer-reversible change in which one adult cell
type (epithelial or mesenchymal) is replaced by another adult cell type.
Metaplasia is thought to involve the: - Answer-reprogramming of undifferentiated stem cells
that are present in the tissue undergoing the metaplastic changes.1
Metaplasia usually occurs in response to - Answer-chronic irritation and inflammation and
allows for substitution of cells that are better able to survive under circumstances in which a
more fragile cell type might succumb
Dysplasia is characterized by - Answer-deranged cell growth of a specific tissue that results in
cells that vary in size, shape, and organization.
Although dysplasia is abnormal, it is - Answer-adaptive in that it is potentially reversible after
the irritating cause has been removed.
Dysplasia is strongly implicated as a precursor of - Answer-cancer
