10231 - Special Veterinary Pathology II

Learning outcomes

At the end of the course students will know the aetiopathogenesis and macro and microscopic morphological features of the main diseases affecting the respiratory, cardiocirculatory, haemopoietic and urinary systems, skin and the mammary gland.

Knowledge and understanding. Knowledge of the macro and microscopic morphological features of the main lesions to organs and  systems, their aetiology and pathogenesis. Knowledge of the terminology used to describe the macroscopic features of a lesion.

Applying knowledge and understanding. How to apply traditional morphological parameters (shape, size, colour, consistency, distribution) to identify and describe organ lesions. 

Making judgements. The ability to recognize a lesion, describe it using the appropriate terminology and make a differential diagnosis.

Communication skills. The ability to explain his/her reasoning.

Learning skills. The ability to utilize complementary resources (Veterinary Teaching Portal, other veterinary pathology websites) to integrate, complete and add to his/her training. 

Prerequisites

Students enrolling in this course have to be familiar with the morphophysiological aspects acquired during the study of Veterinary Anatomy and Physiology and with the bases of pathological processes acquired during the study of General Pathology.

Students must have a good written and spoken knowledge of English to be able to read slides (that may be used in lessons) and extracts from publications, scientific texts and manuals.

Course contents

Respiratory system: Nasal cavity: malformations, haemorrhages, equine progressive ethmoidal haematoma. Phlogosis: aetiology, pathogenesis and morphological types. Infectious bovine rhinotracheitis (IBR), equine adenitis, glanders. Inflammation of the guttural pouch. Swine atrophic rhinitis. Parasitic diseases and enzootic and sporadic tumours of nasal cavities.Larynx and trachea: malformations, haemorrhages, oedema, equine laryngeal hemiplegia, phlogosis: aetiology, pathogenesis and morphological types. Airways: malformations, foreign body pathologies, stenosis, bronchiectasia (aetiopathogenesis and morphological macroscopic patterns); bronchitis and bronchiolitis (classification and pulmonary consequences). Lung: variation of pulmonary air content: classification, pathogenesis, gross examination and histological aspects of atelectasis (congenital and acquired) and of emphysema (parenchymatous and interstitial, acute and chronic). Pulmonary oedema: aetiopathogenesis, macroscopic and microscopic features. Lung abnormalities of blood flow: gross examination and pathogenesis of hyperaemia, hischemia, pulmonary embolism and thrombosis. Pneumonias: classification. Aetiopathogenesis and gross examination of bronchopneumonia, fibrinous, interstitial, purulent and gangrenous pneumonias: Granulomatous pneumonia:  pathogenesis of tuberculosis in domestic mammals. Bovine, equine, swine, canine and feline pulmonary tuberculosis. Bovine pneumonias: enzootic pneumonia, shipping fever, ARDS-BRSV, fog fever, extrinsic allergic alveolitis. Swine pneumonias: enzootic pneumonia, pleuropneumonia, interstitial pneumonia. Canine and feline pneumonias: CDV, FHV and FCV. Pulmonary parasitic diseases of the airways (Strongyloidosis), of the pulmonary circulation (Filariasis, Angiostrongylosis) and lung pathologies caused by parasites migration (Ascarioidea) or erratic localization (Distomatosis). Pneumoconiosis, pulmonary calcifications. Primary and secondary lung cancer. Primary: anaplastic carcinoma and lung adenocarcinoma. Ovine pulmonary carcinoma: etiology, macroscopic and microscopic features. Pleural neoplasms: mesothelioma.

Pleural cavity: Pneumothorax. Hydrothorax, haemothorax, Chylothorax, Pleuritis (classification, pathogenesis). Tuberculous pleuritis. Canine pleural actinomycosis.

Urinary system: Kidney: malformation (hypoplasia, lobar persistence, dysplasias). Congenital and acquired renal cysts: macroscopic aspects and pathogenesis. Perirenal pseudocysts. Kidney: hyperaemia, haemorrhages, hischemia, renal papillary necrosis, infarct. Glomerulonephrosis (pathogenesis of glomerular damage, glomerular lipidosis, diabetic glomerulonephrosis, amyloid glomerulonephrosis); hischemic and toxic tubulonephrosis (hischemia, mycotoxins, heavy metals, pulpy kidney), hemo-myoglobinuric and colemic tubulonephrosis, mineral deposits (nephrocalcinosis, oxalates, "uric acid infarcts"). Classification of nephritis. Glomerulonephritis (gross examination and pathogenesis); histological aspects of acute and chronic types, aetiology of swine, equine, feline and canine glomerulonephritis. Tubulointerstitial nephritis (gross examination, pathogenesis, aetiology). Bovine tubulointerstitial nephritis (focal, diffuse, maculosa alba, calcinosis). Swine, canine, feline tubulointerstitial nephritis. Purulent nephritis: classification, apostematous nephritis and disseminate purulent nephritis (gross examination, pathogenesis, aetiology). Pyelonephritis. Granulomatous nephritis. Renal parasitosis: Klossiellosis, Lehismaniasis, Encephalitozoonosis, Microascaridiosis, halicephalobiasis.  Primitive renal epithelial (adenoma, carcinoma) and mesenchymal neoplasms and nephroblastoma; secondary renal neoplasms. Urinary tract: ureters: malformations, ectasia, occlusions, urolithiasis (classification, pathogenesis, consequences of bovine, canine and feline urolithiasis); cystitis (classification, pathogenesis), hydronephrosis, neoplasms of urinary tract, bovine enzootic hematuria.

Hemolymphopoietic organs: Bone marrow: involution, hyperplasia, aplasia, gelatinous atrophy, haemosiderosis, necrosis. Lymph-nodes: hypoplasia, atrophy, pathological pigmentations, necrosis, abnormalities of blood flow and pneumatosis. Macroscopic and microscopic features of simple (acute and chronic), purulent, hemorrhagic and necrotizing, granulomatous and piogranulomatous  lymphadenitis. Pathology of hemolymphnodes. Spleen: malformations,  abnormalities of blood flow (passive hyperaemia, haematomas, infarcts), degenerations (atrophy, hyalinosis, amyloidosis, haemosiderosis, necrosis), splenitis ( hyperemic-haemorrhagic, hyperplastic, purulent-gangrenous, necrotizing, fibrous, granulomatous). Lymphatic leukaemia-lymphoma complex (Kiel, IWF, REAL histologic classification systems). Assessment of the immunophenotype of a lymphoma. Anatomic classification and macroscopic feature of bovine, equine, swine, canine and feline lymphoma.

Cardiovascular system: Heart: malformations, hydropericardium, hemopericardium, pericarditis (classification and aetiology); myocardiosis, myocardial necrosis (causes and effects), myocardial hypertrophy, myocarditis with particular reference to purulent, lymphocytic and granulomatous myocarditis. Endocardium: calcification, endocardiosis, fibroelastosis; endocarditis (pathogenesis, aetiology, classification). Blood vessels: aneurysm, thrombosis, regressive arteropathies (calcifications, hyalinosis, fibrinoidosis, amyloidosis, arterosclerosis), arteritis (acute and chronic, pathogenesis). Veins: thrombosis, phlebitis. Lymphatics: lymphangectasia, lymphangitis. Parasites of vessels. Neoplasms of vessels.

Mammary gland:  Congenital anomalies, acquired alterations, abnormalities of blood flow, mastitis: aetiology, pathogenesis and classification of the main types of bovine mastitis (fibrinopurulent or gangrenous mastitis, hemorrhagic-necrotizing mastitis, interstitial mastitis, granulomatous and piogranulomatous mastitis; mentions about ovine-caprine mastitis. Epidemiology of mammary tumours, hormone-dependency, dysplastic lesions, concept of simple, complex and mixed tumours, histological grading (histological grade and stage) and TNM system.

Skin: Macroscopic and microscopic elementary lesions in dermopathology (spots, papule, pompho, nodule, vesicle, exocytosis, pustula, ortho- and para-keratosic hyperkeratosis, acanthosis, spongiosis, hydropic degeneration, acantolisis, dermic oedema, dermic fibrosis, pigmentary incontinence). Dermatosis with endocrine (hypothyroidism, hypercorticism, hyperestrogenism) or carential induced alopecia; dermatosis with deposit (calcinosis, mucinosis). Pneumoderma, necrosis and subcutis steatonecrosis, cutaneous gangrene (dry, damp, gassy). Patterns of dermatitides (perivascular, dermovasculitis, interfacial, nodular-diffuse, vesicular-pustolosa, folliculitis-forunculosis, panniculitis) and associated diseases. Benign and malignant epithelial skin tumours of epidermic or adnexal (hair follicles, sudoriparous and sebaceous glands) origin; mesenchymal tumours (fibroma, fibromatosis, sarcoma, schwannoma, hemangiopericytoma) and round cells tumours (mast-cell tumour, melanoma, histiocytoma, plasmacytoma).

Syllabus of the course. 

Readings/Bibliography

• Marcato P. S.: Patologia sistematica veterinaria. Il Sole 24 Ore-Edagricole, 2nd Edition, 2002.
• Power point files are available on Alm@ DL only if students are registered in the giuseppe.sarli.anatpatvet2 distribution list.

Teaching methods

The course involves 45 hours of frontal lessons and 15 hours of practical sessions.

a)       Academic (frontal)

Frontal lessons cover the theoretical part of the course and require the attendance of all students and the course teacher who plays an active role in presenting the course programme. Lessons may be integrated by seminars on special topics and by external teaching staff for specific teaching projects. Theoretical lessons are designed to give a systematic presentation of the programme.

b)      Practical

Practical lessons are carried out on material from slaughtered animals specially obtained from slaughterhouses and on cases selected from routine diagnostic practice at the pathological anatomy service. In addition, necroscopy examinations are scheduled with the active participation of students. Practical lessons are carried out dividing students into four groups.

Practical sessions have a twofold aim:

1) to allow students to acquire the manual skills required to perform a necroscopy mainly addressed to the examination of an isolated organ or to perform a  macroscopic description of the lesions detected on cases directly visible in the anatomy room - acquisition of professional skills;

2) to develop students' ability to recognize an organ disease both in cases present in the anatomy room and in photographs available on the Veterinary Teaching Portal or veterinary pathology websites - acquisition of processing and synthesis skills; acquisition of communication skills and team work;

Two types of practical lessons will be undertaken

o    sessions on organs from slaughtered animals or necroscopy examination to acquire manual skills and apply the concepts of macroscopic description.

o    Interactive sessions on cases in the anatomy room and on slide images to acquire diagnostic skills and on which the course teachers will raise questions that students must solve using the information provided in theoretical lessons.

Assessment methods

Procedures concerning the evaluation of the students

The final examination is designed to assess the achievement of the main learning outcomes of the course: (1) To know the aetiopathogenesis and macroscopic and microscopic morphological features of the main diseases affecting the organs and systems addressed in the course; (2) to know how to recognize an organ lesion and describe it using the appropriate terminology; (3) to be able to formulate and discuss a list of possible differential diagnoses starting from a macroscopic lesion and suggest how to establish a final diagnosis.

The examination consists of a written test, a practical test and an oral test. The three tests are taken at the same time, usually on the same day. Given the close integration of all three tests they cannot be taken separately.

a)       Written test. The aim of the written test is to ascertain that the student has an adequate body of knowledge relating to the course contents. Students who fail the written test are not eligible to sit the subsequent parts of the examination.

The written test includes 20 questions (multiple choice questions, short open questions, answers to be completed). Maximum score 10 points.

1) Each multiple choice question has four alternatives and only one correct answer. The possible scores are  0 (incorrect) or 0.5 (correct). Failure to answer is deemed incorrect.

2) In open-ended questions the answer must fit in the space allotted. The score ranges from 0  to 0,5  depending on the accuracy of the answer and adherence to the question. Failure to answer is scored zero.

3) The time allotted for the written test is 90 minutes. During the test students are not allowed to use support material like textbooks, notes or computers.

4) A total score of at least 6 points is required to pass the test and sit the subsequent parts of the examination.

b)       Practical test. The aim of the practical test is to ascertain that the student is able to recognize an organ lesion and knows how to describe it using the appropriate terminology. The student is shown a pathological organ or photograph reproducing an organ lesion. The student must recognize the organ and species to which it belongs, identify the lesion and describe it using the standard international descriptive method presented during the course. The practical test score ranges from 0 (zero) to 10 (ten). A total score of at least 6 points is required to pass the test. Students who fail to obtain 6 points are required to resit the entire examination.

c)       Oral test. The aim of the oral test is to ascertain the student's ability to apply his/her body of knowledge with the necessary logico-deductive skills. The oral test is usually based on the lesion observed in the practical test. The student is asked to formulate a list of differential diagnoses fitting the lesion morphology and to discuss the elements for and against the various hypotheses advanced, suggesting how the final diagnosis could be reached. Test questions are designed to elicit in-depth information on the diseases called into play. Special attention is paid to the student's ability to undertake transverse reasoning and to link the course information with the information acquired from courses attended in previous years. The oral test score ranges from 0 (zero) to 10 (ten). A total score of at least 6 points is required to pass the test. Students who fail to obtain 6 points are required to resit the entire examination.

The final score expressed in marks out of thirty is sum of the oral test score and the written test score and shall be recorded immediately. Students awarded full marks in all parts of the examination shall be awarded the top mark of 30 cum laude.

Procedures concerning the booking and dates of the exam sessions

Students can only book their oral test following the instructions available on the Alma Esami online system: (https://almaesami.unibo.it/almaesami/welcome.htm). 

Examination dates appear in special windows for course students and are scheduled throughout the year for out-of-course students.

Course students are not entitled to sit examinations outside the specified dates.

Examinations cannot be taken without fulfilling the propedeutic requirements specified by the degree course committee.

If all candidates cannot be examined on the scheduled day, depending on the time available the examiner is entitled to shift the examination date of unexamined candidates drawing up an examination schedule on the first examination day.

Students failing to pass the oral test are entitled to resit the entire examination after a minimum period of three weeks.

Teaching tools

Slide projector for theoretical lessons and autopsy room for practice.

Office hours

See the website of Giuseppe Sarli