Iraqi Board Pathology flashcards

32 cards. Read the term and the definition here. The deck at the top of this page is optional.

Coagulative necrosis

Necrosis with preserved tissue architecture and eosinophilic anucleate cells, typical of ischemic injury to heart, kidney, and spleen; caused by protein denaturation dominating enzymatic digestion.

Virchow triad

Three factors predisposing to thrombosis: endothelial injury, abnormal blood flow (stasis or turbulence), and hypercoagulability; the basis for understanding thrombus formation and prevention.

Granuloma

Collection of activated macrophages (epithelioid cells) often with Langhans giant cells and a lymphocyte rim, seen in tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, and foreign-body reactions.

Nephrotic syndrome

Glomerular disease with proteinuria above 3.5 g/day, hypoalbuminemia, edema, and hyperlipidemia; causes include minimal change disease, membranous nephropathy, and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.

Kimmelstiel-Wilson nodules

Nodular mesangial expansion in diabetic nephropathy, with thickened glomerular basement membrane and microalbuminuria as the earliest clinical marker.

Nottingham breast grade

Score summing tubule formation, nuclear pleomorphism, and mitotic count (each 1-3); total 3-5 is grade 1, 6-7 grade 2, 8-9 grade 3.

Gleason score

Prostate cancer grading that sums the two most prevalent architectural patterns (each 1-5); Gleason 3+3=6 corresponds to Grade Group 1 and 9-10 to Grade Group 5.

Frozen section indications

Intraoperative diagnosis for margin status, lymph node metastasis, and unknown lesions, plus tissue triage; avoided for fat, bone, and lymphoid lesions needing permanent processing.

Bethesda ASC-US

Cervical cytology category for atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance; managed by HPV triage or repeat cytology in one year depending on age and screening history.

Koilocytosis

Perinuclear halo with enlarged, raisin-like nucleus in squamous cells, representing HPV cytopathic effect and the cytologic hallmark of low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion.

Bethesda thyroid categories

Six FNA categories from I nondiagnostic to VI malignant; risk of malignancy rises from about 5-15% in category III to 97-99% in category VI.

CML genetics

Chronic myeloid leukemia driven by t(9;22) BCR-ABL1; peripheral blood shows leukocytosis with full myeloid spectrum and basophilia; treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as imatinib.

Reed-Sternberg cells

Large binucleate cells with prominent nucleoli in Hodgkin lymphoma; immunophenotype CD15 positive, CD30 positive, CD45 negative, set in an inflammatory background.

DIC profile

Disseminated intravascular coagulation shows prolonged PT and aPTT, low fibrinogen, elevated D-dimer, and schistocytes; management targets the underlying cause with blood product support.

Anion gap

Calculated as sodium minus chloride plus bicarbonate, normally 8-12 mmol/L; elevated gap indicates unmeasured anions such as ketones, lactate, or toxins.

HbA1c threshold

Glycated hemoglobin of 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or higher diagnoses diabetes; the test reflects average glycemia over the preceding two to three months.

Friedewald formula

Estimates LDL cholesterol as total cholesterol minus HDL minus triglycerides divided by five, valid only when triglycerides are below 4.5 mmol/L.

Hepatitis B serology

HBsAg indicates infection, anti-HBs indicates immunity, anti-HBc IgM indicates acute infection, and HBeAg indicates high infectivity; used together to stage infection.

Ziehl-Neelsen stain

Acid-fast stain detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis; auramine-rhodamine fluorescent staining is used for screening, and culture remains the diagnostic gold standard.

ABO compatibility

O negative red cells are the universal donor and AB positive the universal recipient; plasma compatibility is reversed, with AB plasma donor and O recipient.

TRALI

Transfusion-related acute lung injury with pulmonary edema within six hours of transfusion, caused by donor antibodies against recipient leukocytes; distinguished from volume overload.

Direct Coombs test

Detects antibodies or complement bound to patient red cells, as in autoimmune hemolysis and hemolytic disease of the newborn; indirect Coombs detects serum antibodies.

HER2 FISH

Fluorescent in situ hybridization detecting HER2 gene amplification in breast and gastric cancer; amplification predicts response to trastuzumab and other anti-HER2 therapies.

KRAS resistance

KRAS mutations in colorectal carcinoma predict resistance to anti-EGFR antibodies such as cetuximab and panitumumab, so testing is required before therapy.

MSI testing

Microsatellite instability or mismatch repair deficiency predicts response to immune checkpoint inhibitors and raises suspicion of Lynch syndrome.

Sanger sequencing

Chain-termination method for single-gene point mutations; considered a gold standard but limited throughput and detects variants present in at least 15-20% of cells.

Electron microscopy

Ultrastructural technique identifying desmosomes, microvilli, melanosomes, and viral particles; used in renal biopsy for immune deposits and in ciliary defects.

Rigor mortis

Postmortem muscle stiffening beginning one to two hours after death, peaking near twelve hours, and resolving by twenty-four to thirty-six hours depending on temperature.

Livor mortis

Dependent lividity appearing thirty minutes to two hours after death and becoming fixed after six to eight hours; helps determine body position after death.

ISO 15189

International standard specifying quality and competence requirements for medical laboratories, covering organization, personnel, equipment, process control, and continual improvement.

Westgard rules

Internal quality control rules such as 1-3s, 2-2s, R-4s, 4-1s, and 10x that flag random or systematic analytical error requiring investigation.

Critical value reporting

Post-analytical requirement to notify the responsible clinician promptly when a result indicates imminent danger, with documentation of notification time and recipient.