Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide
Pathoplasticity
DEFINITION
- Pathoplasticity is the “variability in a symptom’s specific form and content, shaped by events in a patient’s life.”[1]
- Pathoplastic features are differentiated from pathognomonic features, which are specifically distinctive or characteristic of a disease or pathologic condition.
- The clinician can make a diagnosis based on pathognomonic signs and symptoms, but pathoplastic features by definition can vary between individuals with the same diagnosis.
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Last updated: July 16, 2025
Citation
Szilagyi, Nathalie, and Margaret S Chisolm. "Pathoplasticity." Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide, The Johns Hopkins University, 2025. Johns Hopkins Guides, www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787167/2/Pathoplasticity.
Szilagyi N, Chisolm MS. Pathoplasticity. Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2025. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787167/2/Pathoplasticity. Accessed October 31, 2025.
Szilagyi, N., & Chisolm, M. S. (2025). Pathoplasticity. In Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. The Johns Hopkins University. https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787167/2/Pathoplasticity
Szilagyi N, Chisolm MS. Pathoplasticity [Internet]. In: Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide. The Johns Hopkins University; 2025. [cited 2025 October 31]. Available from: https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787167/2/Pathoplasticity.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
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T1 - Pathoplasticity
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Y1 - 2025/07/16/
BT - Johns Hopkins Psychiatry Guide
UR - https://www.hopkinsguides.com/hopkins/view/Johns_Hopkins_Psychiatry_Guide/787167/2/Pathoplasticity
PB - The Johns Hopkins University
DB - Johns Hopkins Guides
DP - Unbound Medicine
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