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Pathology Flashcards

7 cards from real NBME practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

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  1. A 55-year-old man with chronic alcoholism presents with jaundice and hepatomegaly. Liver biopsy shows hepatocyte swelling with intracytoplasmic eosinophilic inclusions. What are these inclusions?

    Answer: Mallory-Denk bodies

    Mallory-Denk bodies are aggregates of intermediate filaments (cytokeratins) found in hepatocytes in alcoholic liver disease.

  2. A 30-year-old woman presents with recurrent DVTs, spontaneous abortions, and a positive lupus anticoagulant test. Which pathological mechanism underlies her condition?

    Answer: Autoantibodies against phospholipid-binding proteins

    Antiphospholipid syndrome is caused by autoantibodies (anti-beta2-glycoprotein I, anticardiolipin) that promote thrombosis and pregnancy loss.

  3. A neonate develops respiratory distress shortly after birth. Chest X-ray shows ground-glass opacities bilaterally. Autopsy reveals hyaline membranes lining alveolar ducts. What is the primary deficiency?

    Answer: Surfactant (dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine)

    Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome results from surfactant deficiency in premature infants, leading to alveolar collapse and hyaline membrane formation.

  4. A 40-year-old woman with systemic lupus erythematosus has a kidney biopsy showing 'wire loop' lesions. What is deposited in these capillary walls?

    Answer: IgG and C3 immune complexes

    Wire loop lesions in lupus nephritis (class IV) represent subendothelial immune complex deposits causing marked capillary wall thickening.

  5. A 65-year-old man undergoes colectomy for colorectal carcinoma. Pathology shows a tumor that is confined to the muscularis propria with 2 positive regional lymph nodes. What is this lesion's TNM stage?

    Answer: T2 N1 M0 (Stage III)

    T2 indicates invasion into but not through the muscularis propria; N1 indicates 1-3 positive regional nodes; M0 = no distant metastasis = Stage III.

  6. A 50-year-old woman with rheumatoid arthritis develops amyloidosis affecting the kidneys. Which amyloid protein is deposited in reactive (secondary) amyloidosis?

    Answer: AA (serum amyloid A-derived)

    Secondary (reactive) amyloidosis deposits AA protein, derived from the acute-phase reactant serum amyloid A, in response to chronic inflammatory conditions.

  7. A 20-year-old man has a testicular mass. Serum AFP is markedly elevated. Histology shows embryoid bodies and Schiller-Duval bodies. What is the diagnosis?

    Answer: Yolk sac tumor (endodermal sinus tumor)

    Yolk sac tumors are the most common testicular tumor in infants and young children, characterized by Schiller-Duval bodies and elevated AFP.