Collection of test tasks and clinical cases in pathophysiology

Pathophysiology, due to its interdisciplinary nature, plays the role of a "bridge" between the fundamental disciplines and the clinic. This textbook is intended for third-year students of the specialty of medicine. It was prepared by a team of authors and editors, formed by consensus of the teachers of pathophysiology from medical universities in the country.

When assigning the development of individual chapters to the respective authors, the editors of the textbook were guided by their teaching experience and their special qualifications in various areas of pathophysiology. When editing the final text of the textbook, the editors' aspiration was, on the one hand, to comply with modern trends and achievements in the study of the mechanisms of pathological processes and diseases, and on the other hand - to preserve the individual approach and style of presentation of the authors. The sections “General Pathophysiology” and „Main Types of Pathological Processes” were edited by A. Stoynev, and “Special Pathophysiology” - by D. Iluchev.

One of the main principles in the preparation of the textbook was the requirement that the chapter texts not include systematic expositions of normal anatomy and physiology, biophysics and biochemistry, or clinical pictures. If such information is needed, the reader should refer to the relevant specialized textbook. Exceptions have been made only in individual cases, in which it was absolutely necessary to draw a parallel for a better explanation or illustration of impaired regulatory mechanisms, while the necessary minimum of specific physiological, anatomical, biochemical, etc. information has been presented.

To the section “Special Pathophysiology” in addition to the general etiology and pathogenesis of organ damage and manifestations of organ insufficiency, the causes and mechanisms of socially significant diseases in humans are also examined.
In preparing the texts, in addition to the available textbook on pathophysiology in Bulgarian (Pathological Physiology 1999, ed. R. Lolov and D. Mitkov), the authors used as sources the modern editions of established foreign textbooks examining mechanisms of pathological processes and diseases, cited below. They could be used for additional independent preparation, incl. for the optional modules offered by the departments of pathophysiology.