Neuropathology | Pathology Student

Huntington disease

Huntington disease is a neurodegenerative disease that belongs to a category of genetic diseases known as trinucleotide repeat diseases. (more…)

How can an embolism cause a hemorrhagic infarct?

Q. I am confused as to how an embolism can cause a haemorrhagic infarct. To me, emboli are little chunks of clot that float around and get stuck in vessels. (more…)

A 38 year-old male with AIDS and severe headache

A 38 year-old male with advanced AIDS presents with severe headaches, fever and altered mental status, and dies several days later. An autopsy is performed, and a coronal section of the brain is shown here.
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A 13 year-old male with a cerebellar mass

A 13 year-old male presents with a cerebellar mass. A biopsy is performed, and a representative section is shown here. (more…)

A 59 year-old male with a 4 cm cerebral mass

A 59 year-old male presents with severe headaches and fatigue of several months’ duration. A 4 cm, poorly-defined, necrotic left cerebral mass is found on CT and is subsequently biopsied.
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Embolus vs. thrombus

Here are a few very good questions about CNS infarcts. There are two types of CNS infarcts: red (hemorrhagic) and pale (ischemic). (more…)

The four main types of rosettes in pathology

Rosettes are little round groupings of cells found in tumors. They usually consist of cells in a spoke-wheel or halo arrangement surrounding a central, acellular region. (more…)

What happens after brain tissue dies?

We talk a lot about strokes in a clinical way in medical school. We discuss which areas of the brain are involved, and we correlate the areas damaged with the patient’s symptoms. (more…)

What’s the difference between ischemic and hemorrhagic brain infarcts?

Q. I’m studying for boards and came across a point of confusion. (more…)

Brain metastases: sometimes the first sign of a tumor

Metastatic lesions are pretty common in the brain. If you look at all brain tumors in hospitalized patients, about 25% – 50% are metastatic tumors. (more…)