A 72 year-old male with a deep calf mass

A 72 year-old male presents with an ill-defined, deep-seated mass in his right calf. It has grown appreciably in the past few months and is now roughly the size of a golf ball. A core biopsy is performed, and a representative section is shown here.
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How does the ESR work?

Q. Could you please explain the ESR?

A. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), also called a sedimentation rate or sed rate, is a test that is performed by putting blood in a tube (more…)

Is metaplasia pathologic?

Q. I have a question about metaplasia. It seems that the other types of altered cell activity are classified as either physiologic or pathologic. (more…)

Giant multinucleated cells

There are a bunch of different kinds of big, multinucleated cells in pathology. Here’s a question that you can use to test your knowledge of these cells. (more…)

How do you identify mitoses?

Q. How do you identify mitoses in histology slides?

A. Great question. This is something pathologists have to do a lot and nobody really talks about what specifically makes a mitotic figure.

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