USMLE Step 1 Rapid Review (New 2026/
2027 Update) Questions & Answers {Grade
A} 100% Correct (Verified Solutions)
Branching gram + rods with sulfur granules - correct answer Actinomyces israelii
Bronchogenic apical lung tumor - correct answer Pancoast tumor (can cause
Horner's)
Brown tumor of bone - correct answer Hemorrhage (hemosiderin) causes brown color
of osteolytic cysts. Due to hyperparathyroidism or osteitis fibrosa cystica
Cardiomegaly with apical atrophy - correct answer Chagas disease (Trypanosoma
cruzi)
Cellular crescents in Bowman's capsule - correct answer Rapidly progressive
crescentic glomerulonephritis
Chocolate cyst of ovary - correct answer Endometriosis (usually bilateral)
,Circular grouping of dark tumor cells surrounding pale neurofibrils - correct answer
Homer Wright rosettes (adrenal neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma, Ewing's sarcoma)
Colonies of mucoid Pseudomonas in lungs - correct answer CF
Degeneration of dorsal column nerves - correct answer Tabes dorsalis - lose
proprioception (3* syphilis)
Depigmentation of neurons in substantia nigra - correct answer Parkinson's
Desquamated epithelium casts in sputum - correct answer Curschmann's spirals
(bronchial asthma, can result in whorled mucous plugs)
Disarrayed granulosa cells in eosinophilic fluid - correct answer Call-Exner bodies
(granulosa-theca cell tumor of the ovary)
,Dysplastic squamous cervical cells with nuclear enlargement and hyperchromasia -
correct answer Koilocytes (HPV) "perrinuclear cytoplasmic clearing"
Enlarged cells with intranuclear inclusion bodies - correct answer Owl's eye
appearance of CMV - Cowdry A bodies
Enlarged thyroid cells with ground-glass nuclei - correct answer Orphan Annie nuclei,
or "disbursed chromatin" (papillary carcinoma of the thyroid)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in liver cell - correct answer Mallory bodies
(alcoholic liver disease)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in nerve cell - correct answer Lewy body
(Parkinson's)
Eosinophilic globule in liver - correct answer Councilman body (toxic or viral hepatitis,
often yellow fever)
, Eosinophilic inclusion bodies in cytoplasm of hippocampal nerve cells - correct
answer Rabies virus - negri bodies (Lyssavirus)
Extracellular amyloid deposition in gray matter of brain - correct answer Senile
plaques (Alzheimer's)
Giant B cells with bilobed nuclei with prominent inclusions (Owl's eye) - correct
answer Reed-Sternberg cells (Hodgkin's lymphoma)
Glomerulus-like structure surrounding vessel in germ cells - correct answer Schiller-
Duval bodies (yolk sac tumor)
Hair-on-end (crewcut) appearance on X-ray - correct answer "b-thalassemia, sickle
cell anemia (extramedullary hematopoiesis). ""Hair on end"" means marrow expansion
(skull)
hCG elevated - correct answer Choriocarcinoma, hydatidiform mole
2027 Update) Questions & Answers {Grade
A} 100% Correct (Verified Solutions)
Branching gram + rods with sulfur granules - correct answer Actinomyces israelii
Bronchogenic apical lung tumor - correct answer Pancoast tumor (can cause
Horner's)
Brown tumor of bone - correct answer Hemorrhage (hemosiderin) causes brown color
of osteolytic cysts. Due to hyperparathyroidism or osteitis fibrosa cystica
Cardiomegaly with apical atrophy - correct answer Chagas disease (Trypanosoma
cruzi)
Cellular crescents in Bowman's capsule - correct answer Rapidly progressive
crescentic glomerulonephritis
Chocolate cyst of ovary - correct answer Endometriosis (usually bilateral)
,Circular grouping of dark tumor cells surrounding pale neurofibrils - correct answer
Homer Wright rosettes (adrenal neuroblastoma, medulloblastoma, Ewing's sarcoma)
Colonies of mucoid Pseudomonas in lungs - correct answer CF
Degeneration of dorsal column nerves - correct answer Tabes dorsalis - lose
proprioception (3* syphilis)
Depigmentation of neurons in substantia nigra - correct answer Parkinson's
Desquamated epithelium casts in sputum - correct answer Curschmann's spirals
(bronchial asthma, can result in whorled mucous plugs)
Disarrayed granulosa cells in eosinophilic fluid - correct answer Call-Exner bodies
(granulosa-theca cell tumor of the ovary)
,Dysplastic squamous cervical cells with nuclear enlargement and hyperchromasia -
correct answer Koilocytes (HPV) "perrinuclear cytoplasmic clearing"
Enlarged cells with intranuclear inclusion bodies - correct answer Owl's eye
appearance of CMV - Cowdry A bodies
Enlarged thyroid cells with ground-glass nuclei - correct answer Orphan Annie nuclei,
or "disbursed chromatin" (papillary carcinoma of the thyroid)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in liver cell - correct answer Mallory bodies
(alcoholic liver disease)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in nerve cell - correct answer Lewy body
(Parkinson's)
Eosinophilic globule in liver - correct answer Councilman body (toxic or viral hepatitis,
often yellow fever)
, Eosinophilic inclusion bodies in cytoplasm of hippocampal nerve cells - correct
answer Rabies virus - negri bodies (Lyssavirus)
Extracellular amyloid deposition in gray matter of brain - correct answer Senile
plaques (Alzheimer's)
Giant B cells with bilobed nuclei with prominent inclusions (Owl's eye) - correct
answer Reed-Sternberg cells (Hodgkin's lymphoma)
Glomerulus-like structure surrounding vessel in germ cells - correct answer Schiller-
Duval bodies (yolk sac tumor)
Hair-on-end (crewcut) appearance on X-ray - correct answer "b-thalassemia, sickle
cell anemia (extramedullary hematopoiesis). ""Hair on end"" means marrow expansion
(skull)
hCG elevated - correct answer Choriocarcinoma, hydatidiform mole
