ABSTRACT
The development of a fibrosis is usually a slow process and cannot be directly predicted on the basis of the conventional laboratory tests that reflect cell injury of the parenchymal organ. Fibrosis is basically a histological term, usually indicating an increased amount of connective tissue visible in a biopsy specimen. In the adult, pregnancy is a unique situation in terms of the rate of extracellular matrix synthesis and turnover in a growing organ, the uterus. Lung fibrosis in humans is a heterogenous group of diseases, with respect to both etiology and prognosis. Myelofibrosis, the replacement of normal bone marrow by fibrous connective tissue, can be primary or result from another hematologic or malignant disease. The development of diabetic microangiopathy is accompanied by thickening of basement membranes and thus involves accelerated synthesis or decreased turnover of basement membrane material or both.
