Lecture 3 - Lesion Descriptions and Morphological Diagnoses

Why do lesion descriptions matter?

Assist in diagnostic work-up and developing a list of differentials/causes

Important for follow-up

Needed for referrals/second opinions

Needed for additional testing (biopsies, necropsy, cultures)

What are characteristics of medical/patient records?

Usually owned by the practice/practice owner

Privileged and confidential information

Must keep records for 5 years from date of last known contact with animal patient in Illinois

What are wounds?

Tissue injury caused by excessive mechanical forces

Th type of wound injury depends on...

The type of mechanical force and the nature of the target tissue

What are the 4 wound classifications?

Abrasion (grazes and scratches)

Contusion (bruises)

Laceration (tears)

Incised wounds (stab)

Why is severity a challenging modifier to use?

Highly subjective

Highly dependent on scale and context, which is not always provided

May not always correlate clinically

What are the 4 ways to describe duration?

Peracute: seconds to minutes

Acute: hours to days

Subacute: days to weeks

Chronic: weeks to months

What does acute on chronic mean?

Multiple pathologies starting at different times

What does chronic-active mean?

Same injury/insult occurring at multiple time points (polyphasic)

Why is distribution so helpful?

Can give us an idea of portal of entry and pathogenesis

May help narrow down potential etiologies/causes

What are terms that can be used for distribution, either gross or histopathological?

Focal

Multifocal

Multifocal to coalescing

Diffuse

What distributional terms can only be used for histopathology?

Perivascular

Lichenoid

Interface

What are considered weak descriptive terms?

Small, medium, large

Mild, severe