COATS DISEASE

COATS DISEASE
GENERAL INFORMATION

The pathology of the orbits I chose to cover is called Coats disease or otherwise known as Exudative Retinitis. The disease takes place in the retinal capillaries and is very progressive. Blood leaks from the abnormal vessles causing it to build up and leave cholesterol deposits.The most common people it affects are young children, and usually young male adults. There is no known cause of Coats disease but it does start to occur within the first decade of ones life. It starts to affect the vision, but only in one eye.

SYMPTOMS

The most common symptoms of coats disease is the deterioration of the central of peripheral vision in ones eye. Bleeding can also occur along with leakage of out the eye. Most of the time someone with coats disease you will find them squinting an aweful lot.

DIAGNOSIS

Coats disease is found by the appearance of the back of the eye. MRI scan will be able to show if someone has Coats disease. Also, another way to diagnose Coats is with Fluorescein Angiography which consists of injecting dye into the back of the eye and looking at the circulation.

TREATEMENT

Coats disease can be treated by using a special type of laser or cryotherapy also known as freezing. This will usually destroy the abnormal blood vessels, but if they are thought to be clustered around the optic nerve, these methods may not work because there is a chance the nerve could be damaged and ruined. Sometimes this disease will stop on its own either permanently or temporarily. Once complete detachment of the nerve happens, the only last option is to remove the eye itself. EWW.

Pituitary Macroadenoma

PITUITARY MACROADENOMA

GENERAL INFORMATION
The pathology for the pituitary that I chose to do is Pituitary Macroadenoma. Even though we have talked about this some in class I figured I would still go ahead and explain it anyways.
A pituitary macroadenoma is a benign growth that occurs on the pituitary gland. For it to be considered macro is has to be at least 10mm in size. If it is less than 10mm, its then considered micro. There are several types of macroadenoma. Those that actually make hormones are considered funtcional macroadenomas, and those that do not make hormones are called nonfunctioning macroadenomas, easy enough.

SYMPTOMS
The most common symptoms a patient has when they have a macroadenoma is tiredness and restlessness. More severe complaints people with these have are headaches, vomiting, and dizziness. Macroadenomas can grow and if it gets big enough it can push on the optic nerve and start to affect a person's vision. Since the symptoms are based on what kind of macroadenoma it is, not everyone with this will experience these symptoms.

DIAGNOSIS.
To diagnose a macroadenoma, the doctor will have to ask a patient a series of questions such as their medical history, any symptoms they are having, if this runs in their family, etc. Certain tests such as MRI and CT will help to find a macroadenoma. Blood tests and eye exams may help as well.

TREATEMENT
Most pituitary macroadenomas treatement consists of surgery to remove it. Radiation therapy and or drug therapy are also another possible choice for treatement. Most of the time treatment is decided by what kind of macroadenoma it is.

MRI IMAGE OF A PITUITARY MACRO ADENOMA

IAC Pathology

MASTOIDITIS

GENERAL INFORMATION
The pathology for the IAC portion I have chosen to do is Mastoiditis which sounds pretty painful. Mastoiditis is exactly what is sounds like. It is the inflammation of the mastoid air cells that are in the temporal bone. Someone can have acute or chronic mastoiditis. Chronic mastoiditis usually is latent and does not show up for a while. It is usually associated with a tumor of the squamous epithelium called cholesteatoma formations. These tumors will cause the epithelium to grow and change the function of the tissue and bone.

CAUSES OF MASTOIDITIS

Some causes of mastoiditis come from strands of bacteria. Some of them include: Hemophilus Influenzae, Staphylococci, and pneumococcus. Mastoiditis most commonly comes from chronic otitis media which is an inflammation of the middle ear. When the otitis media becomes severe, it starts to affect the mastoid air cells and starts to inflame them as well.

SYMPTOMS

Some of the symptoms of mastoiditis first of all is aches and pains around the mastoid area.

Fever could possibly be a symptom, but it will not be very high. Possible hearing loss could develop as it began to grow more serious, and also edema in the tympanic membrane is a significant sign of mastoiditis.

DIAGNOSIS

Ways to diagnose if someone has mastoiditis, is to either to a CT or MRI scan. CT images will appear more clearer, but most of the time MRI's will be preferred. If worse comes to worse they could potentially do an exploratory surgery to figure out the problem.

TREATEMENT

Mastoiditis can be prevented by taking antibiotics when receiveing an ear infection, or seeking medical attention promptly. If mastoiditis is suspected, the patient should be admitted into the hospital so tests can be run and they should have IV fluids of antibiotics for 24-48 hours.

MRI Axial T2 Weighted Image of Mastoiditis

MRI Diffusion Weighted Image of Mastoiditis

Neurocysticercosis

CT/MRI PATHOLOGY

GENERAL INFORMATION.

I chose to do my brain pathology over Neurocysticercosis, Aka worms in the brain. This disease is very rare and is caused by a build up of a particular tapeworm in the body. The specific name of this tapeworm is called Taenia Solium, which is a type of tapeworm you can get from eating uncooked pork. This tapeworm can also enter the body by eating contaminated food and or drinking contaminated water. This disease usually occurs in Asia, Africa, etc, that uses human feces to fertilize their farmlands. When humans accidentally come in contact with the feces, they ingest the eggs of the tapeworm, and it then begins to grow in the body (webmd). There are stil quite a few cases in the United States with this disease.

SYMPTOMS

There are some symptoms that occur when someone receives Neurocysticercosis. Seizures, headaches, confusion, feeling a sense of dis balance can occur. Also, if the cysts begin to move into the brain into the fourth ventricle, it could cause hydrocephalus, (water in the brain). These symptoms could occur months or years later and if the disease gets bad enough, death can possibly occur once the worms start to dye off and the brain begins to swell (emedicine.com)

DIAGNOSIS

There are a couple of ways this can be diagnosed. MRI and CT are the two most common ways to find worms in the brain. The technologist in these areas might ask where the patient has been traveling and or what the patient has been eating. MRI and CT scans will be able to tell how many cysts are in the brain or other parts of the body. (medterms.com)

TREATEMENT

There are a few types of treatement given to those who have Neurocysticercosis. A combination of Anti-Parasitic and Anti-Inflammatory drugs usually cure the most acute cases of this disease. If there are several cysts in the brain, surgery will be done to remove the cysts. As the worm dies, the lesion shrinks and symptoms will start to disappear if all goes well.

MRI Image of the brain with Neurocysticercosis