ABPath Anatomic Pathology case studies
ABPath Anatomic Pathology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Anatomic Pathology Primary Certification is one of the credentialing pathways offered by the American Board of Pathology (ABPath), the body that certifies physicians who have completed accredited pathology training in the United States. This page is an independent study resource built for candidates preparing for the anatomic pathology primary examination; it is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by ABPath, and it does not replace the official Booklet of Information, exam blueprint, or content specifications. The ABPath Anatomic Pathology case studies are 5 cases and about 2,809 words.
1Pleural-Based Lung Mass With Prior Breast Cancer
A 58-year-old woman with a 6-year history of hormone receptor–positive breast cancer presents with a 2.2 cm right lower lobe lung mass abutting the pleura; PET shows moderate uptake, no other lesions. The radiologist calls it 'indeterminate.' The surgeon requests intraoperative frozen section to distinguish organizing pneumonia from carcinoma before completing lobectomy.
601 words, about 3 min2Indeterminate Thyroid Nodule With High-Risk Ultrasound
A 47-year-old man has a 3.5 cm solid thyroid nodule with microcalcifications and irregular margins on ultrasound. Fine-needle aspiration yields two alcohol-fixed smears and one ThinPrep slide; one smear is air-dried and shows abundant colloid and sheets of follicular cells with mild crowding, rare nuclear grooves, and one possible pseudoinclusion.
551 words, about 3 min3Unattended Home Death With a Pacemaker and a Family-Requested Limited Autopsy
A 72-year-old man with hypertension and a dual-chamber pacemaker is found unresponsive at home by his wife at 7 a.m.; EMS pronounces him dead at 7:22 a.m. The last time he was seen well was 4 p.m.
565 words, about 3 min4Small Lung Core With a Broad Differential and Predictive-Marker Demand
A 64-year-old man with a 30 pack-year smoking history has a 1.2 cm left upper lobe lung mass and a 1.8 cm adrenal mass. A CT-guided core biopsy of the lung yields four 1-mm cores; two are used for H&E and one for a rapid on-site impression.
558 words, about 3 min5Specimen Mislabeling, LIS Downtime, and Inspection Readiness
A 350-bed community hospital has a pathology laboratory with two pathologists, one histotechnologist, and a send-out contract for immunohistochemistry. Frozen sections are performed Monday–Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.; after-hours cases are transferred to a sister hospital 25 miles away.
534 words, about 3 min