Classic Presentations Flashcards
Abdominal pain, ascites, hepatomegaly
Budd-Chiari syndrome (posthepatic venous thrombosis)
Achilles tendon xanthoma
Familial hypercholesterolema (decreased LDL receptor signaling)
Adrenal hemorrhage, hypotension, DIC
Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome (meningococcemia)
Arachnodactyly, lens dislocation, aortic dissection, hyperflexible joints
Marfan’s syndrome (fibrillin defect)
Athlete with polycythemia
Secondary to erythropoietin injection
Back pain, fever, night sweats, weight loss
Pott’s disease (vertebral tuberculosis)
Bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy, uveitis
Sarcoidosis (noncaseating granulomas)
Blue sclera
Osteogenesis imperfecta (type I collagen defect)
Bluish line on gingiva
Burton’s line (lead poisoning)
Bone pain, bone enlargement, arthritis
Paget’s disease of bone (increased osteoblastic and osteoclastic activity)
Bounding pulses, diastolic heart murmur, head bobbing
Aortic regurgitation
“Butterfly” facial rash and Raynaud’s phenomenon in a young female
Systemic lupus erythematosus
Cafe-au-lait spots, Lisch nodules (iris hamartoma)
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (+ pheochromocytoma, optic gliomas)
Cafe-au-lait spots, polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, precocious puberty, multiple endocrine abnormalities
McCune-Albright syndrome (mosaic G-protein signaling mutation)
Calf pseudohypertrophy
Muscular dystrophy (most commonly Duchenne’s); X-linked recessive deletion of dystrophin gene
“Cherry-red spot” on macula
Tay-Sachs (ganglioside accumulation) or Niemann-Pick (sphingomyelin accumulation), central retinal artery occlusion
Chest pain on exertion
Angina (stable: with moderate exertion; unstable: with minimal exertion)
Chest pain, pericardial effusion/friction rub, persistent fever following MI
Dressler’s syndrome (autoimmune-mediated post-MI fibrinous pericarditis, 1-2 weeks after acute episode)
Child uses arm to stand up from squat
Gower’s sign (Duchenne muscular dystrophy)
Child with fever later develops red rash on face that spreads to body
“Slapped cheeks” (erythema infectiousum/fifth disease: parvovirus B19)
Chorea, dementia, caudate degeneration
Huntington’s disease (autosomal-dominant CAG repeat expansion)
Chronic exercise intolerance with myalgia, fatigue, painful cramps, myoglobinuria
McArdle’s disease (muscle glycogen phosphorylase deficiency)
Cold intolerance
Hypothyroidism
Conjugate lateral gaze palsy, horizontal diplopia
Internuclear ophthalmoplegia (damage to MLF; bilateral [multiple sclerosis], unilateral [stroke])
Continuous “machinery heart murmur”
PDA (close with indomethacin, open or maintain with misoprostol)
Cutaneous/dermal edema due to connective tissue deposition
Myxedema (caused by hypothyroidism, Grave’s disease [pretibial])
Dark purple skin/mouth nodules
Kaposi’s sarcoma (usually AIDS patients [MSM]; associated with HHV-8)
Deep, labored breathing/hyperventilation
Kussmaul breathing (diabetic ketoacidosis)
Dermatitis, dementia, diarrhea
Pellagra (niacin [vitamin B3] deficiency)
Dilated cardiomyopathy, edema, alcoholism or malnutrition
Wet beriberi (thiamine [vitamin B1] deficiency)
Dog or cat bite resulting in infection
Pasteurella multocida (cellulitis at inoculation site)
Dry eyes, dry mouth, arthtris
Sjogren’s syndrome (autoimmune destruction of exocrine glands)
Dysphagia (esophageal webs), glossitis, iron deficiency anemia
Plummer-Vinson syndrome (may progress to esophageal squamous cell carcinoma)
Elastic skin, hypermobility of joints
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (type III collagen defect)
Enlarged, hard left supraclavicular node
Virchow’s node (abdominal metastasis)
Erythroderma, lymphadenopathy, hepatosplenomegaly, atypical T cells
Sezary syndrome (cutaneous T cell lymphoma) or mycosis fungoides
Facial muscle spasm upon tapping
Chvostek’s sign (hypocalcemia)
Fat, female, forty, and fertile
Cholelithiasis (gallstones)
Fever, chills, headache, myalgia following antibiotic treatment for syphilis
Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction (rapid lysis of spirochetes results in toxin release)
Fever, cough, conjunctivitis, coryza, diffuse rash
Measles (Morbillivirus)
Fever, night sweats, weight loss
B symptoms (staging) of lymphoma
Fibrous plaques in soft tissue of penis
Peyronie’s disease (connective tissue disorder)
Gout, mental retardation, self-mutilating behavior in a boy
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome (HGPRT deficiency, X-linked recessive)
Green-yellow rings around peripheral cornea
Kayser-Fleischer rings (copper accumulation from Wilson’s disease)
Hamartomatous GI polyps, hyperpigmentation of mouth/feet/hands
Peutz-Jeghers syndrome (inherited, benign polyposis can cause bowel obstruction; increased cancer risk, mainly GI)
Hepatosplenomegaly, osteoporosis, neurologic symptoms
Gaucher’s disease (glucocerebroside deficiency)
Hereditary nephritis, sensorineural hearing loss, cataracts
Alport syndrome (mutation in alpha chain of collagen IV)
Hyperphagia, hypersexuality, hyperorality, hyperdocility
Kluver-Bucy syndrome (bilateral amygdala lesion)
Hyperreflexia, hypertonia, Babinski sign present
UMN damage
Hyporeflexia, hypotonia, atrophy, fasciculations
LMN damage
Hypoxemia, polycythemia, hypercapnia
“Blue bloater” (chronic bronchitis: hyperplasia of mucous cells)
Indurated, ulcerated genital lesion
Nonpainful: chancre (primary syphilis, Treponema pallidum)
Painful, with exudate: chancroid (Haemophilus ducreyi)
Infant with cleft lip/palate, microcephaly, or holoprosencephaly, polydactyly, cutis aplasia
Patau’s syndrome (trisomy 13)
Infant with failure to thrive, hepatosplenomegaly, and neurodegeneration
Niemann-Pick disease (genetic sphingomyelinase deficiency)
Infant with hypoglycemia, failure to thrive, and hepatomegaly
Cori’s disease (debranching enzyme deficiency)
Infant with microcephaly, rocker-bottom feet, clenched hands, and structural heart defect
Edward’s syndrome (trisomy 18)
Jaundice, palpable distended non-tender gallbladder
Courviosier’s sign (distal obstruction of biliary tree)
Large rash with bull’s eye appearance
Erythema chronicum migrans from Ixodes tick bite (Lyme disease: Borellia)
Lucid interval after traumatic brain injury
Epidural hematoma (middle meningeal artery rupture)
Male child, recurrent infections, no mature B cells
Bruton’s disease (x-linked agammaglobulinemia)
Mucosal bleeding and prolonged bleeding time
Glanzmann’s thrombasthenia (defect in platelet aggregation due to lack of GpIIb/IIIa)
Muffled heart sounds, distended neck veins, hypotension
Beck’s triad of cardiac tamponade
Multiple colon polyps, osteomas/soft tissue tumors, impacted/supernumerary teeth
Gardner’s syndrome (subtype of FAP)
Myopathy (infantile hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), exercise intolerance
Pompe’s disease (lysosomal alpha-1,4-glucosidase deficiency)
Neonate with arm paralysis following difficult birth
Erb-Duchenne palsy (superior trunk [C5-C6] brachial plexus injury: “waiters tip”)
No lactation postpartum, absent menstruation, cold intolerance
Sheehan’s syndrome (pituitary infarction)
Nystagmus, intention tremor, scanning speech, bilateral internuclear ophthalmoplegia
Multiple sclerosis
Oscillating slow/fast breathing
Cheyne-Stokes respirations (central apnea in CHF or increased intracranial pressure)
Painful blue fingers/toes, hemolytic anemia
Cold agglutinin disease (autoimmune hemolytic anemia caused by Mycoplasma pneumoniae, infectious mononucleosis)
Painful, pale, cold fingers/toes
Raynaud’s phenomenon (vasospasm in extremities)
Painful, raised red lesions on pad of fingers/toes
Osler’s node (infectious endocarditis, immune complex deposition)
Painless erythematous lesions on palms and soles
Janeway lesions (infective endocarditis, septic emboli/microabscesses)
Painless jaundice
Cancer of the pancreatic head obstructing bile duct
Palpable purpura on buttocks/legs, joint pain, abominal pain (child), hematuria
Henoch-Schonlein purpura (IgA vasculitis affecting skin and kidneys)
Periorbital and/or peripheral edema, proteinuria, hypoalbuminemia, hypercholesterolemia
Nephrotic syndrome
Pink complexion, dyspnea, hyperventilation
“Pink puffer” (emphysema: centriacinar [smoking], panacinar [alpha1-antitrypsin deficiency])
Polyuria, renal tubular acidosis type II, growth failure, electrolytic imbalances, hypophosphatemic rickets
Fanconi’s syndrome (proximal tubule reabsorption defect)
Positive anterior “drawer sign”
Anterior cruciate ligament injury
Pruritic, purple, polygonal planar papules and plaques (6 P’s)
Lichen planus
Ptosis, miosis, anhidrosis
Horner’s syndrome (sympathetic chain lesion)
Pupil accommodates but doesn’t react
Argyll Robertson pupil (neurosyphilis)
Rapidly progressive leg weakness that ascends following GI/upper respiratory infections
Guillan-Barre syndrome (acute autoimmune inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy)
Rash on palms and soles
Coxsackie A, secondary syphilis, Rocky Mountain spotted fever
Recurrent colds, unusual eczema, high serum IgE
Hyper-IgE syndrome (Job’s syndrome: neutrophil chemotaxis abnormality)
Red “currant jelly” sputum in alcoholics or diabetic patients
Klebsiella pneumoniae
Red “currant jelly” stools
Acute mesenteric ischemia (adults), intussusception (infants)
Red, itchy, swollen rash of nipple/areola
Paget’s disease of the breast (represents underlying neoplasm)
Red urine in the morning, fragile RBCs
Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
Renal cell carcinoma (bilateral), hemangioblastomas, angiomatosis, pheochromocytoma
von Hippel-Lindau disease (dominant tumor suppressor gene mutation)
Resting tremor, rigidity, akinesia, postural instability
Parkinson’s disease (nigrostriatal dopamine deletion)
Retinal hemorrhages with pale centers
Roth’s spots (bacterial endocarditis)
Severe jaundice in neonate
Crigler-Najjar syndrome (congenital unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia)
Severe RLQ pain with palpation of LLQ
Rovsing’s sign (acute appendicitis)
Severe RLQ pain with rebound tenderness
McBurney’s sign (appendicitis)
Short stature, increased incidence of tumors/leukemia, aplastic anemia
Fanconi’s anemia (genetic loss of DNA crosslink repair; often progresses to AML)
Single palmar crease
Simian crease (Down syndrome)
Situs inversus, chronic sinusitis, bronchiectasis, infertility
Kartagener’s syndrome (dynein arm defecet affecting cilia)
Skin hyperpigmentation, hypotension, fatigue
Addison’s disease (primary adrenocortical insufficiency causes increased ACTH and increased alpha-MSH production)
Slow, progressive muscle weakness in boys
Becker’s muscular dystrophy (X-linked missense mutation in dystrophin; less severe than Duchenne’s)
Small, irregular red spots on buccal/lingual mucosa with blue-white centers
Koplik spots (measles; rubeola virus)
Smooth, flat, painless white lesions on genitals
Condylomata lata (secondary syphilis)
Splinter hemorrhages in fingernails
Bacterial endocarditis
“Strawberry tongue”
Scarlet fever, Kawasaki disease, toxic shock syndrome
Streak ovaries, congenital heart disease, horseshoe kidney, cystic hygroma at birth, short stature, webbed neck, lymphedema
Tuner syndrome (45, XO)
Sudden swollen/painful big toe joint, tophi
Gout/podagra (hyperuricemia)
Swollen gums, mucosal bleeding, poor wound healing, spots on skin
Scurvy (vitamin C deficiency: can’t hydroxylate proline/lysine for collagen synthesis)
Swollen, hard, painful finger joints
Osteoarthritis (osteophytes on PIP [Bouchard’s nodes], DIP [Heberden’s nodes])
Systolic ejection murmur (crescendo-decrescendo)
Aortic valve stenosis
Thyroid and parathyroid tumors, pheochromocytoma
MEN 2A (autosomal dominant ret mutation)
Thyroid tumors, pheochromocytoma, ganglioneuromatosis
MEN 2B (autosomal dominant ret mutation)
Toe extension/fanning upon plantar scarpe
Babinski sign (UMN lesion)
Unilateral facial drooping involving forehead
Facial nerve (LMN CN CII palsy)
Urethritis, conjunctivitis, arthritis in a male
Reaction arthritis associated with HLA-B27
Vascular birthmark (port-wine stain)
Hemangioma (benign, but associated with Sturge-Weber syndrome)
Vomiting blood following gastroesophageal lacerations
Mallory-Weiss syndrome (alcoholic and bulimic patients)
Weight loss, diarrhea, arthritis, fever, adenopathy
Whipple’s disease (Tropheryma whipplei)
“Worst headache of my life”
Subarachnoid hemorrhage