Classic Labs/Findings Flashcards
Anticentromere Ab
Scleroderma (CREST)
Anti-desmoglein (anti-desmosome) Ab
Pemphigus vulgaris (blistering)
Anti-glomerular basement membrane Ab
Goodpasture syndrome (glomerulonephritis and hemoptysis)
Antihistone Ab
Drug-induced SLE (eg hydra lazing, isoniazid, phenytoin, procainamide)
Anti-IgG Ab
Rheumatoid arthritis (systemic inflammation, joint pan us, boutonniere deformity)
Antimitochondrial Ab (AMAs)
Primary Biliary Cirrhosis (female, cholestasis, portal HTN)
Antineutrophil cytoplasmic Ab (ANCAs)
Microscopic polyangitis and eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangitis (Churg-Strauss syndrome)-MPO-ANCA/p-ANCA
Granulomatosis with polyangitis (Wegeners)-PR3-ANCA/c-ANCA
Antinuclear Ab (ANAs: anti-smith and anti-dsDNA)
SLE (type III hypersensitivity)
Antiplatelet Ab
Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura
Anti-topoisomerase Ab
Diffuse systemic scleroderma
Anti-transglutaminase/anti-gliadin/anti-endomysial Ab
Celiac disease (diarrhea, weight loss)
“Apple core” lesion on barium enema X-Ray
Colorectal cancer (usually left sided)
Atypical lymphocytes
EBV
Azurophilic peroxidase positive granular inclusions in granulocytes and myeloblasts
Auer rods (AML, esp the promyelocytic [M3] type)
Bacitracin response
Sensitive: S.pyogenes (group A)
Resistant: S.agalactiae (group B)
Bamboo spine on XR
Ankylosis get spondylitis (chronic inflammatory arthritis, HLA-B27)
Basophilic nuclear remnants in RBCs
Howell-Jolly bodies (due to splenectomy or nonfunctional spleen)
Basophils can stippling of RBCs
Lead poisoning or sideroblastic anemia
Bloody or yellow tap on lumbar puncture
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
Boot-shaped heart on XR
Tetralogy of Fallot (due to RVH)
Branching gram + rods with sulfur granules
Actinomyces israelii
Bronchogenic apical lung tumor on imaging
Pancoast tumor (can compress cervical sympathetic chain and cause Horner syndrome)
“Brown” tumor of the bone
Hyperparathyroidism or osteitis Fibrosa cystica (deposited hemosiderin from hemorrhage gives brown color)
Cardiomegaly with apical atrophy
Chagas’ disease (Trypanosoma cruzi)
Cellular crescents in Bowman Capsule
Rapidly progressive crescentic glomerulonephritis
Chocolate cyst of ovary
Endometriosis (frequently) involves both ovaries
Circular grouping of dark tumor cells surrounding pale neurofibrils
Homer-Wright rosettes (neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma)
Colonies of mucoid Pseudomonas in lungs
Cystic fibrosis (AR mutation in CFTR gene –> fat soluble vitamin deficiency and mucous plugs)
decrease in AFP in amniotic fluids/maternal serum
Down syndrome and other chromosomal anomalies
Degeneration of dorsal column fibers
Tabes dorsalis (tertiary syphilis), subacute combined degeneration (dorsal columns, lateral corticospinal, spinocerebellar tracts affected)
“Delta wave” on EKG, short PR interval, supraventricular tachycardia
Wolf-Parkinson-White syndrome (bundle of Kent bypasses AV node)
Depigmentation of neurons in substantia nigra
Parkinson disease (basal ganglia disorder; rigidity, resting tremor, bradykinesia)
Desquamated epithelium casts in sputum
Curschmann spirals (bronchial asthma; can result in whorled mucous plugs)
Disarray end granulosa cells arranged around collections of eosinophilic fluid
Call-Exner bodies (granulosa cell tumor of the ovary)
Dysplasia squamous cervical cells with “raisinoid” nuclei and hyperchromasia
Koilocytes (HPV: predisposes to cervical cancer)
Electrical alternans (alternating amplitude on EKG)
Pericardial tamponade
Enlarged cells with intranuclear inclusion bodies
“Owl eye” appearance of CMV
Enlarged thyroid cells with ground-glass nuclei with central clearing
“Orphan Annie” eye nuclei (papillary carcinoma of the thyroid)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in liver cell
Mallory body (alcoholic liver disease)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in neuron
Lewy body (Parkinson disease and Lewy body dementia)
Eosinophilic globule in liver
Councilman body (viral hepatitis, yellow fever), represents hepatocytes undergoing apoptosis
Eosinophilic inclusion bodies in cytoplasm of hippocampal and cerebellar neurons
Negri bodies of rabies
Extracellular amyloid deposition in gray matter of brain
Senile plaques (ALZ disease)
Giant B cells with beloved nuclei with prominent inclusions (owl’s eyes)
Reed-Sternberg cells (Hodgkin lymphoma)
Glomerulus-like structure surrounding vessel in germ cells
Schiller-Duval bodies (yolk sac tumor)
“Hair on end” Crew cut appearance on XR
beta-thalassemia, sickle cell disease (marrow expansion)
Increased AFP in amniotic fluid/maternal serum
Dating error, anencephaly, spina bifida (neural tube defects)
HCG elevated
Choriocarcinoma, hydatidiform mole (occurs with and without embryo, and multiple pregnancy)
Heart nodules (granulomatous)
Aschoff bodies (rheumatic fever)
Heterophile Ab
Infectious mononucleosis (EBV)
Hexagonal, double-pointed, needle-like crystal in bronchial secretions
Bronchial asthma (Charcot-Leyden crystals; eosinophilic granules)
High level of D-dimers
DVT, PE, DIC
Hilar lymphadenopathy, peripheral granulomatous lesion in middle or lower lung lobes (can calcify)
Ghon complex (primary TB; mycobacterium bacilli)
Honeycomb lung on CXR or CT
Interstitial pulmonary fibrosis
Hypercoagulability (leading to migrating DVTs and vasculitis)
Trousseau syndrome (adenocarcinoma of pancreas or lung)
Hypersegmented neutrophils
Megaloblastic anemia (B12 deficiency-neurologic symptoms; folate deficiency-no neurologic symptoms)
Hypertension, hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis
Primary hyperaldosteronism (Conn syndrome)
Hypochromic, microcytic anemia
Iron deficiency anemia, lead poisoning, thalassemia (fetal Hgb sometimes present)
Intranuclear eosinophilic droplet-like bodies
Cowdry type A bodies (HSV or VZV)
Iron containing nodules in alveolar sputum
Ferruginous bodies (asbestosis: increased chance for mesothelioma)
Keratin pearls on a skin biopsy
Squamous cell carcinoma
Large granules in phagocytes, immunodeficiency
Chediak-Higashi disease (congenital failure of phagolysosome formation)
“Lead pipe” appearance of colon on abdominal imaging
Ulcerative colitis (loss of haustra)
Linear appearance of IgG deposition on glomerular and alveolar basement membranes
Goodpasture syndrome
Low serum ceruloplasmin
Wilson disease (hepatolenticular degeneration)
“Lumpy-bumpy” appearance of glomeruli on immunofluorescence
Poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (due to deposition of IgG, IgM, and C3)
Lytic “punched out” bone lesions on XR
Multiple myeloma
Mammary gland “blue domed” cyst
Fibrocystic change of the breast
Monoclonal Ab spike
Multiple myeloma (usually IgG or IgA) Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS, consequence of aging) Waldenstrom (M protein = IgM) macroglobulinemia Primary amyloidosis
Mucin-filled cell with peripheral nucleus
Signet ring cells of gastric carcinoma
Narrowing of bowel lumen on barium XR
String sign (crohn disease)
Necrotizing vasculitis (lungs) and necrotizing glomerulonephritis
Granulomatosis with polyangitis (Wegener; PR3-ANCA/c-ANCA) and Goodpasture syndrome (anti-basement membrane Ab)
Needle-shaped crystals, negative birefringent
Gout (monosodium urate crystals)
Nodular hyaline deposits in glomeruli
Kimmelsteil-Wilson nodules (diabetic nephropathy)
Novobiocin response
Sensitive: S.epidermidis
Resistant: S.saprophyticus
“Nutmeg” liver
Chronic passive congestion of liver due to right heart failure of Budd-Chiari syndrome
“Onion skin” periosteal reaction
Ewing sarcoma (malignant small blue cell tumor)
Optochin response
Sensitive: S.pneumoniae
Resistant: Viridans streptococci (S.mutans, S.sanguis)
Podocyte fusion or “effacement” on electron microscopy
Minimal change disease (child with nephrotic syndrome)
Polished, “ivory-like” appearance of bone at cartilage erosion
Eburnation (osteoarthritis resulting in bony sclerosis)
Protein aggregates in neurons from hyperphosphorylation of tau protein
Neurofibrils ray tangles (ALZ) and Pick bodies (Pick disease)
Psammoma bodies
meningiomas, papillary thyroid carcinoma, mesothelioma, papillary serous carcinoma of the endometrium and ovary
Pseudopalisading tumor cells on brain biopsy
Glioblastoma multiforme
Raised periosteum (creating a “Codman triangle”)
Aggressive bone lesion (eg osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma, osteomyelitis)
RBC casts in urine
Glomerulonephritis
Rectangular, crystal-like, cytoplasmic inclusions in Leydig cells
Reindeer crystals (Leydig cell tumor)
Recurrent infections, eczema, thrombocytopenia
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome
Renal epithelial casts in urine
Intrinsic renal failures (eg ischemia or toxic injury)
Rhomboid crystals, + birefringent
Pseudo gout (calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate crystals)
Rib notching (inferior surface seen on XR)
Coarctation of the aorta
Ring-enhancing brain lesion on CT/MRI in AIDS
Toxoplasma gondii, CNS lymphoma
Sheets of medium-sized lymphoid cells with scattered pale, tingible body-laden MPs (starry sky histology)
Burkitt lymphoma (t[8:14] c-myc activation, associated with EBV, starry sky made up of malignant cells
Silver-staining spherical aggregation of tau proteins in neurons
Pick bodies (Pick disease: progressive dementia, changes in personality)
Soap bubble in femur or tibia on XR
Giant cell tumor of bone (usually benign)
Spikes on basement membrane, dome-like sub epithelial deposits
Membranous nephropathy (nephrotic syndrome)
stacks of RBCs
Rouleaux formation (high ESR, multiple myeloma)
Steeple sign on frontal CXR
Croup (parainfluenza virus)
Stipples vaginal epithelial cells
Clue cells (Gardnerella vaginalis)
Streptococcus Boris bacteremia
Colon cancer
Tennis racket shaped cytoplasmic organelles (EM) in Langerhans cells
Birbeck granules (Langerhans cell histiocytosis)
Thousands of polyps on colonoscopy
Familial adenomatous polyposis (AD, mutation of APC gene)
Thrombi made of white/red layers
Lines of Zahn (arterial thrombus, layers of platelets/RBCs)
Thumb sign on lateral neck XR
Epiglottitis (Haemophilus influenzae)
Thyroid like appearance of kidney
Chronic pyelonephritis (usually due to recurrent infections)
Tram-track appearance of capillary loops of glomerular basement membranes on light microscopy
Membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis
Triglyceride accumulation in liver cell vacuoles
Fatty liver disease (alcoholic or metabolic syndrome)
Increased uric acid levels
Gout, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, tumor lysis syndrome, loop and thiazide diuretics
Waxy casts with very low urine flow
Chronic end-stage renal disease
WBC casts in urine
Acute pyelonephritis
WBCs that looked “smudged”
CLL (almost always BC)
Wire loop glomerular capillary appearance on light microscopy
Diffuse proliferation glomerulonephritis (usually seen with SLE)
Yellowish CSF
Xanthochromia (eg due to subarachnoid hemorrhages)