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Types of Dysplasia

Dysplasia can, in medical terms, refer to many possible conditions that affect almost every area in the human body. Dysplasia refers to cells that show abnormal growth or formation within a particular body tissue. For example, dysplasia may refer to the number or size of immature cells verses mature cells in a particular organ, or a high insistence of cells of varying size (anisocytosis) and irregularly-shaped cells (poikilocytosis).

  1. Ectodermal Dysplasia

    • Ectodermal dysplasia (ED) includes approximately 150 different syndromes that affect the ectoderm in an unborn child. During pregnancy, the ectoderm assists in developing the child’s hair, teeth, nails, skin, inner ears and eyes. An ectodermal dysplasia can prevent one or more of these tissues from developing normally and cause physical or functional abnormalities.

    Fibrous Dysplasia

    • Fibrous dysplasia affects the formation of bone tissue. Caused by a gene mutation that occurs in utero, fibrous tissue, much like what forms scars on normal skin, develops in parts of the skeleton instead of bone tissue and is used to replace and repair old bone tissue with soft fibrous tissue.

    Cervical Dysplasia

    • Cervical dysplasia, although itself is not a cancer, is often a precancerous warning sign. Most cervical dysplasia is caught during an annual pap smear that shows the presence of abnormal cell growth on and around the cervix. Cervical dysplasia often accompanies an infection of certain strains of human papilloma virus (HPV).

    Fibromuscular Dysplasia

    • People with fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD) have abnormal cell development that narrows the width of one or more arteries in the body. FMD often remains undetected until the narrowing restricts blood flow to a severe degree, causing other symptoms.

    Optic Nerve Hypoplasia

    • Optic nerve hypoplasia affects the childhood development of optic nerve connections. The affected child may have vision trouble or blindness, exhibit unusual, random eye movements (nystagmus) and neurological symptoms due to the dysplasia’s effect in possibly abnormal brain structure and development.

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