At the completion of this unit, the student should be able to ...

1. Know the clinical signs of inflammation, the cause(s) of each, andappreciate their importance to you in a diagnostic sense.
2. Understand the clinical implications of the fact that inflammationis a dynamic, changing process, not a static one.
3. Understand at a conceptual level why amplification of the inflammatoryresponse is so important, and why this has important meaning in the developmentof therapeutic strategies.
4. Understand that the inflammatory process can lead to several outcomes,and that it will tend to persist until the inciting agent is eliminated.
5. Understand why the blood should be regarded as a "conduit"for components and products of inflammation, and what that means to youclinically.
6. Understand the concept of "activation" of a leukocyte fora specific function, such as killing of a bacterium, and how you will utilizethis phenomenon clinically, both in a positive and negative (i.e., suppressive) sense.
7. Know the principal mechanisms by which leukocytes kill things intracellularly;extracellularly.
8. Understand the steps that are involved in the phagocytosis of an uncoatedparticle; of a coated (opsonized) particle. Know why the process of "frustratedphagocytosis" is potentially dangerous.
9. Be able to use proper medical nomenclature in classifying exudates(e.g., purulent); the various stages of inflammation (e.g., acute); andthe names of inflammatory processes as they occur in different organs andtissues (e.g., oopheritis [inflammation of the ovary] vs. encephalitis [inflammationof the brain]). Know the difference between a granuloma, granulomatous inflammation,and granulation tissue.
10. Understand the difference between congenital and acquired defects inthe inflammatory response, and the relative importance of each in the practiceof medicine.