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An Introduction to Pathology Quiz
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A patient is investigated for recurrent infections and an antibody against her own tissues is found. Which branch of pathology is primarily concerned with these disorders?
- A Histopathology You picked ✕
- B Cytopathology You picked ✕
- C Haematology You picked ✕
- D Medical microbiology You picked ✕
- E Immunology You picked ✓
Correct!
Incorrect
The answer is E: Immunology
Explanation
Why E is correct
See Common Branches of Pathology. Option E is correct because immunology is the branch of pathology concerned with the immune process of the body. It covers how the body recognises threats such as microbes, how the immune response is controlled, and what goes wrong when it fails. Disease can arise when the response is too strong, as in allergy, or when it is aimed at the body's own tissues, as in autoimmunity (an immune attack on the body's own cells). It also covers immunodeficiency, where the immune system is too weak to protect the body, and transplant rejection. Notice what defines this branch: the mechanism, not the specimen. Other branches are named after what they examine or measure, such as blood, tissue, cells or chemicals. Memory aid: ask what the branch is about. If the answer is the immune system itself, it is immunology.
- Immunology: the branch concerned with the immune processes of the body.
- Covers: allergy, autoimmunity, immunodeficiency and transplant rejection.
- Defining feature: the branch is named for a mechanism, not for a specimen.
Why the other options are incorrect
- A. Histopathology: Histopathology studies cellular changes in tissue sections under the microscope. It is defined by the type of specimen it examines, not by immune mechanisms, although it can show immune cells in tissue. Your answer
- B. Cytopathology: Cytopathology examines sampled cells from the body, such as a cervical screening sample, to decide whether they are normal. It is defined by the method and specimen, not by a focus on immune processes. Your answer
- C. Haematology: Haematology deals with diseases of the blood, including red cells, white cells, platelets and clotting. Some blood diseases involve the immune system, but the branch itself is defined by blood rather than immunity. Your answer
- D. Medical microbiology: Medical microbiology is the study of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, and how they cause disease. It overlaps with immunology because the immune system fights infection, but it focuses on the microbes, not on the immune response itself. Your answer
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More questions from this set. Start the quiz to answer them and see each explanation.
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1
Which branch of pathology focuses on the microscopic examination of tissue architecture to identify disease-related cellular changes?
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2
During routine histological processing of a tissue sample, which step stains the cell nuclei purple and the cytoplasm pink?
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