Iraqi Board Pathology case studies
Iraqi Board Pathology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The Iraqi Board in Pathology (البورد العراقي في علم الأمراض) is a postgraduate specialty credential awarded through the Iraqi Board of Medical Specializations. It is intended for physicians who have completed a primary degree and are training toward independent practice as specialists in diagnostic pathology, whether their working setting is a general hospital laboratory, a teaching hospital, or a private histopathology and cytology service. The Iraqi Board Pathology case studies are 5 cases and about 3,657 words.
1A 1.1 mm melanoma called a dysplastic nevus: staging, margins and ancillary tests
A 58-year-old man from Erbil has a 1.4 cm asymmetric pigmented lesion on his upper back, excised at a district hospital with a 2 mm clinical margin. The outside report calls it 'severe dysplastic nevus, margins clear'.
793 words, about 4 min2A scanty thyroid FNA with focal nuclear grooves: adequacy, Bethesda category and next step
A 38-year-old schoolteacher is referred with a 1.8 cm solid, hypoechoic nodule in the right thyroid lobe, TI-RADS 4, no cervical lymphadenopathy and a normal TSH. Ultrasound-guided FNA produces one air-dried and one alcohol-fixed slide.
714 words, about 4 min3Prolonged APTT before cholecystectomy: mixing study interpretation and perioperative plan
A 67-year-old woman with symptomatic gallstones is admitted for elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Pre-operative tests show APTT 58 s (reference 25–35), PT 12.4 s (11–14), platelets 245 × 10^9/L and fibrinogen 3.2 g/L.
750 words, about 4 min4A 6.9 mmol/L potassium with low calcium and magnesium: spurious result or critical value?
A 72-year-old man with diabetic nephropathy (eGFR 24 mL/min/1.73 m2) attends clinic. The biochemistry is K 6.9 mmol/L, Na 132, Ca 1.98 mmol/L (2.15–2.55), Mg 0.55 mmol/L (0.70–1.00), ALP 42 U/L (previously 95) and creatinine 310 µmol/L (baseline 290).
676 words, about 3 min5Culture-negative vertebral osteomyelitis after antibiotics: specimen handling and a single positive bottle
A 46-year-old man with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes has three months of progressive low back pain, fever of 38.3 °C, CRP 96 mg/L and a white cell count of 11.2 × 10^9/L. MRI shows L4–L5 discitis with an epidural component and a small paravertebral collection.
724 words, about 4 min