Pathology Student

Why was plasmodium falciparum named that way?

So we had this lecture on malaria on Thursday, and I decided that we needed a little object lesson to go along with it. (more…)

Does reticulocytosis cause a macrocytic anemia?

Q. I wanted to check a fact with you because my friend and I were confused by something in First Aid, and it wasn’t listed in one of the errata for the new edition. (more…)

How do antinuclear antibodies cause problems in lupus?

Okay, so we know that antinuclear antibodies are seen in many different autoimmune diseases (including lupus). (more…)

Fluorescent antinuclear antibody (FANA) testing

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem, autoimmune disease. (more…)

Parvovirus infection in pregnancy

Q. While doing some reproductive medicine practice questions in a boards question bank I came across one I couldn’t reason through and was hoping you could help: (more…)

Four years!

I just realized that it’s been four years (and one day) since I started this blog! (more…)

Questions from a patient with myeloma

Q. I have myeloma and have relapsed after a stem cell transplant.

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25 year-old male with rapidly-growing forearm mass

A 25 year-old male presents with a mass on the volar aspect of his forearm. He first noticed the lesion 2 weeks ago, when he developed pain in his arm, and since then it has grown rapidly to reach its current size of approximately 5 cm. (more…)

What’s the difference between FDPs and D-dimers?

Q. What is the difference between FDPs and D-dimers? (more…)

A 38 year-old male with AIDS and severe headache

A 38 year-old male with advanced AIDS presents with severe headaches, fever and altered mental status, and dies several days later. An autopsy is performed, and a coronal section of the brain is shown here.
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