SBA — Single Best Answer · Review
Question 381
Pathology → General
Classification
Question
SSBAQuestion Header
A thrombus remains attached to a vessel wall and is not removed by fibrinolysis. Over time, macrophages, fibroblasts and vascular channels grow into it, converting it into incorporated connective tissue. Which fate of the thrombus is described?
Question Stem
Select the single best answer.
Options
A
Resolution
B
Propagation
C
Thromboembolism
D
Organisation
E
Suppuration
Explanation
A thrombus may undergo resolution, organisation, propagation or thromboembolism. Ingrowth by macrophages, fibroblasts and vascular tissue with incorporation into the vessel wall represents organisation.
Option Validity
A) Resolution refers to removal of the thrombus through fibrinolytic mechanisms rather than connective-tissue incorporation.
B) Propagation describes extension of the thrombus rather than fibrovascular ingrowth into it.
C) Thromboembolism occurs when part or all of a thrombus becomes detached and travels in the bloodstream.
E) Suppuration is not the fate described by fibroblast and vascular ingrowth into an attached thrombus.
Further Reading
Saxena R. Textbook for MRCOG-1. Chapter 5: Pathology. General Pathology, pp.161–175.