,USMLE Step 1 – Pathology High-Yield Review
(Over 200 Fact-Based Questions &
Mnemonics) – 2025 | Kaplan Med School
Anticentromere antibodies
Scleroderma (CREST)
Antidesmoglein (epithelial) antibodies
Pemphigus vulgaris (blistering)
Anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies
Goodpasture's syndrome (glomerulonehpritis and hemoptysis)
Antihistone antibodies
Drug-induced SLE (hydralazine, isoniazid, phenytoin, procainamide)
Anti-IgG antibodies
Rheumatoid arthritis (systemic inflammation, joint pannus, boutonniere deformity)
Antimitochondrial antibodies (AMAs)
Primary biliary cirrhosis (female, cholestasis, portal hypertension)
Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs)
Vasculitis (c-ANCA: Wegener's; p-ANCA: microscopic polyangiitis, Churg-Strauss syndrome)
Antinuclear antibodies (ANAs: anti-Smith and anti-dsDNA)
SLE (type III hypersensitivity)
Antiplatelet antibodies
Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
Anti-topoisomerase antibodies
Diffuse systemic scleroderma
Anti-transglutamniase/anti-gliadin/anti-endomysial antibodies
Celiac disease (diarrhea, distension, weight loss)
"Apple core" lesion on abdominal x-ray
Colorectal cancer (usually left-sided)
,Azurophilic granular needles in leukemic blasts
Auer rods (acute myelogenous leukemia, especially the promyelocytic [M3] type)
Bacitracin response
Sensitive: Streptocococcus pyogenes (group A)
Resistant: Streptococcus agalactiae (group B)
"Bamboo spine" on x-ray
Ankylosing spondylitis (chronic inflammatory arthritis: HLA-B27)
Basophilic nuclear remnants in RBCs
Howell-Jolly bodies (due to splenectomy or nonfunctional spleen)
Basophilic stippling of RBCs
Lead poisoning or sideroblastic anemia
Bloddy tap on LP
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
"Boot-shaped" heart on x-ray
Tetralogy of Fallot, RVH
Branching gram-positive rods with sulfur granules
Actinomyces israelii
Bronchogenic apical lung tumor
Pancoast tumor (can compress sympathetic ganglion and cause Horner's syndrome)
"Brown" tumor of bone
Hemorrhage (hemosiderin) causes brown color of osteolytic cysts. Due to:
1. Hyperparathyroidism
2. Osteitis fibrosa cystica
Cardiomegaly with apical atrophy
Chagas' disease (Trypanosoma cruzi)
Cellular crescents in Bowman's 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, retinoblastoma)
Colonies of mucoid Pseudomonas in lungs
Cystic fibrosis (AR mutation to CFTR resulting in fat-soluble vitamin deficiency and mucous plugs)
Decreased alpha-fetoprotein in amniotic fluid/maternal serum
Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormality
Degeneration of dorsal column nerves
Tabes dorsalis (tertiary syphilis)
Depigmentation of neurons in substantia nigra
Parkinson's disease (basal ganglia disorder: rigidity, resting, tremor, bradykinesia)
Desquamated epithelium casts in sputum
Curschmann's spirals (bronchial asthma; can result in whorled mucous plugs)
Disarrayed granulosa cells in eosinophilic fluid
Call-Exner bodies (granulosa-theca cell tumor of the ovary)
Dysplastic squamous cervical cells with nuclear enlargment and hyperchromasia
Koilocytes (HPV: predisposes to cervical cancer)
Enlarged cells with intranuclear inclusion bodies
"Owl's eye" appearance of CMV
Enlarged thyroid cells with ground-glass nuclei
"Orphan Annie" eye nuclei (papillary carcinoma of the thyroid)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in liver cell
Mallory bodies (alcoholic liver disease)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in nerve cell
Lewy body (Parkinson's disease)
Eosinophilic inclusion bodies in cytoplasm of hippocampal nerve cells
Rabies virus (Lyssavirus)
Extracellular amyloid deposition in gray matter of brain
Senile plaques (Alzhemier's disease)
Giant B cells with bilobed nuclei with prominent inclusions ("owl's eye")
Reed-Sternberg cells (Hodgkin's lymphoma)
(Over 200 Fact-Based Questions &
Mnemonics) – 2025 | Kaplan Med School
Anticentromere antibodies
Scleroderma (CREST)
Antidesmoglein (epithelial) antibodies
Pemphigus vulgaris (blistering)
Anti-glomerular basement membrane antibodies
Goodpasture's syndrome (glomerulonehpritis and hemoptysis)
Antihistone antibodies
Drug-induced SLE (hydralazine, isoniazid, phenytoin, procainamide)
Anti-IgG antibodies
Rheumatoid arthritis (systemic inflammation, joint pannus, boutonniere deformity)
Antimitochondrial antibodies (AMAs)
Primary biliary cirrhosis (female, cholestasis, portal hypertension)
Antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies (ANCAs)
Vasculitis (c-ANCA: Wegener's; p-ANCA: microscopic polyangiitis, Churg-Strauss syndrome)
Antinuclear antibodies (ANAs: anti-Smith and anti-dsDNA)
SLE (type III hypersensitivity)
Antiplatelet antibodies
Idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP)
Anti-topoisomerase antibodies
Diffuse systemic scleroderma
Anti-transglutamniase/anti-gliadin/anti-endomysial antibodies
Celiac disease (diarrhea, distension, weight loss)
"Apple core" lesion on abdominal x-ray
Colorectal cancer (usually left-sided)
,Azurophilic granular needles in leukemic blasts
Auer rods (acute myelogenous leukemia, especially the promyelocytic [M3] type)
Bacitracin response
Sensitive: Streptocococcus pyogenes (group A)
Resistant: Streptococcus agalactiae (group B)
"Bamboo spine" on x-ray
Ankylosing spondylitis (chronic inflammatory arthritis: HLA-B27)
Basophilic nuclear remnants in RBCs
Howell-Jolly bodies (due to splenectomy or nonfunctional spleen)
Basophilic stippling of RBCs
Lead poisoning or sideroblastic anemia
Bloddy tap on LP
Subarachnoid hemorrhage
"Boot-shaped" heart on x-ray
Tetralogy of Fallot, RVH
Branching gram-positive rods with sulfur granules
Actinomyces israelii
Bronchogenic apical lung tumor
Pancoast tumor (can compress sympathetic ganglion and cause Horner's syndrome)
"Brown" tumor of bone
Hemorrhage (hemosiderin) causes brown color of osteolytic cysts. Due to:
1. Hyperparathyroidism
2. Osteitis fibrosa cystica
Cardiomegaly with apical atrophy
Chagas' disease (Trypanosoma cruzi)
Cellular crescents in Bowman's 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, retinoblastoma)
Colonies of mucoid Pseudomonas in lungs
Cystic fibrosis (AR mutation to CFTR resulting in fat-soluble vitamin deficiency and mucous plugs)
Decreased alpha-fetoprotein in amniotic fluid/maternal serum
Down syndrome or other chromosomal abnormality
Degeneration of dorsal column nerves
Tabes dorsalis (tertiary syphilis)
Depigmentation of neurons in substantia nigra
Parkinson's disease (basal ganglia disorder: rigidity, resting, tremor, bradykinesia)
Desquamated epithelium casts in sputum
Curschmann's spirals (bronchial asthma; can result in whorled mucous plugs)
Disarrayed granulosa cells in eosinophilic fluid
Call-Exner bodies (granulosa-theca cell tumor of the ovary)
Dysplastic squamous cervical cells with nuclear enlargment and hyperchromasia
Koilocytes (HPV: predisposes to cervical cancer)
Enlarged cells with intranuclear inclusion bodies
"Owl's eye" appearance of CMV
Enlarged thyroid cells with ground-glass nuclei
"Orphan Annie" eye nuclei (papillary carcinoma of the thyroid)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in liver cell
Mallory bodies (alcoholic liver disease)
Eosinophilic cytoplasmic inclusion in nerve cell
Lewy body (Parkinson's disease)
Eosinophilic inclusion bodies in cytoplasm of hippocampal nerve cells
Rabies virus (Lyssavirus)
Extracellular amyloid deposition in gray matter of brain
Senile plaques (Alzhemier's disease)
Giant B cells with bilobed nuclei with prominent inclusions ("owl's eye")
Reed-Sternberg cells (Hodgkin's lymphoma)
