Practice Test GeeksNBME Practice Test
← All NBME Flashcard Decks

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.

Read the first 7 Pathology flashcards as text

  1. A 60-year-old smoker develops Cushing syndrome without an adrenal or pituitary cause. Chest CT reveals a central hilar mass. What is the tumor type?

    Answer: Small cell (oat cell) carcinoma

    Small cell carcinoma of the lung is a neuroendocrine tumor that frequently secretes ACTH ectopically, causing paraneoplastic Cushing syndrome.

  2. A biopsy of a lymph node shows Reed-Sternberg cells with an 'owl-eye' appearance. Flow cytometry shows CD15+/CD30+/CD45- cells. What is the diagnosis?

    Answer: Classic Hodgkin lymphoma

    Classic Hodgkin lymphoma Reed-Sternberg cells are CD15+, CD30+, and characteristically CD45- (leukocyte common antigen negative).

  3. A 45-year-old woman presents with symmetric joint pain, morning stiffness >1 hour, and subcutaneous nodules. Serology shows anti-CCP antibodies. Which pathological process drives joint destruction?

    Answer: Pannus formation with enzymatic erosion of cartilage and bone

    In rheumatoid arthritis, synovial hyperplasia forms pannus tissue containing proteases and osteoclast-activating cytokines that erode cartilage and bone.

  4. A 35-year-old man with hemoptysis has a chest X-ray showing bilateral pulmonary infiltrates. Urine shows hematuria. Immunofluorescence of kidney biopsy reveals linear IgG deposits along the GBM. What is the antigen?

    Answer: Type IV collagen alpha-3 chain (Goodpasture antigen)

    Goodpasture syndrome results from autoantibodies targeting the alpha-3 chain of type IV collagen in both glomerular and alveolar basement membranes.

  5. A 70-year-old woman has a lytic skull lesion, hypercalcemia, anemia, and rouleaux formation on peripheral smear. Urine protein electrophoresis shows a Bence Jones protein. Which cells are malignant?

    Answer: Plasma cells

    Multiple myeloma is a malignancy of terminally differentiated plasma cells that produce monoclonal immunoglobulin (M protein) and free light chains (Bence Jones proteins).

  6. A 25-year-old woman has a thyroid mass. Histology shows papillae with fibrovascular cores, ground-glass 'Orphan Annie eye' nuclei, and intranuclear inclusions. What is the most common mutation?

    Answer: BRAF V600E point mutation

    BRAF V600E mutation is found in ~60% of papillary thyroid carcinomas and is associated with the characteristic nuclear features of this tumor.

  7. A 55-year-old man with longstanding GERD develops Barrett esophagus. Which metaplastic change defines this condition?

    Answer: Intestinal-type columnar epithelium replaces stratified squamous epithelium

    Barrett esophagus is defined by replacement of normal esophageal squamous epithelium by specialized intestinal-type columnar epithelium with goblet cells.