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USMLE Step 1 First Aid Rapid Review
2026 | Medical School Exam Prep |
Verified Questions & Answers for
Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology
Abdominal pain, ascites, hepatomegaly -- Verified--Solution----Budd-
Chiari Syndrome (post hepatic venous thrombosis). Associated with
Polycythemia vera.
Achilles tendon Xanthoma -- Verified--Solution----Familial
Hypercholesterolemia (absent/defective LDL receptors)
May have MI before age 20
Autosomal dominant
Adrenal hemorrhage, hypotension, DIC -- Verified--Solution----
Waterhouse-Friedrichsen syndrome (Neisseria meningitidis)
Anaphylaxis and/or angioedema following blood transfusion -- Verified-
-Solution----IgA deficiency; C1 inhibitor deficiency would only cause
angioedema, not anaphylaxis
Arachnodactyly (spider fingers), lens dislocation, aortic dissection or
aneurysm, hyperflexible joints, pectus excavatum -- Verified--Solution--
--Marfan Syndrome (FBN1 gene mutation
,2 | Page
chromosome 15 leads to defective fibrillin)
Autosomal Dominant
Athlete with polycythemia -- Verified--Solution----Secondary to EPO
injection
Back pain, fever, night sweats -- Verified--Solution----Pott disease
(vertebral TB)
Bilateral acoustic schwannomas -- Verified--Solution----
Neurofibromatosis type 2
S-100+, cerebellopontine angle
Bilateral hilar adenopathy, uveitis, high ACE, hypercalcemia (activated
macrophages for Vit D), interstitial fibrosis, erythema nodosum,
elevated CD4:CD8 ratio on lavage; asteroid bodies -- Verified--
Solution----Sarcoidosis (non-caseating granulomas)
Black eschar on face of patient with diabetic ketoacidosis -- Verified--
Solution----Mucor or Rhizopus fungal infection
Travels through cribiform plate vessels
Blue sclera -- Verified--Solution----Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Type I
collagen defect forming triple helix)
Blue due to exposure of choroidal veins
,3 | Page
Bluish line on gingiva and basophilic stippling -- Verified--Solution----
Burton line (lead poisoning)
Basophilic stippling (rRNA remnants)
Constipation, anemia, CNS impairment
Bone pain, bone enlargement (hat size or hearing loss), arthritis --
Verified--Solution----Paget disease of bone (Increased osteoclastic, then
osteoblastic activity)
Osteosarcoma or heart failure
Bounding pulses, wide pulse pressure, diastolic heart murmur, head
bobbing -- Verified--Solution----Aortic Regurgitation
"Butterfly" facial rash or discoid rash and Raynaud phenomenon in a
young female -- Verified--Solution----Systemic lupus erythematosus
Type III Hypersensitivity (antigen-antibody complexes deposit) with
glomerulonephritis
Type II hypersensitivity with autoimmune hemolysis
Carcinoma spread -- Verified--Solution----Lymphatics to lymph nodes
(except HCC, Renal cell, follicular thyroid and choriocarcinoma which
spread hematogenously)
Sarcoma spread -- Verified--Solution----Hematogenously
, 4 | Page
Cafe-au-lait spots, Lisch nodules (iris hemartoma), cutaneous
neurofibromas -- Verified--Solution----Neurofibromatosis Type I,
pheochromocytoma, optic gliomas
Cafe-au-lait spots (unilateral), polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, precocious
puberty, multiple endocrine abnormalities -- Verified--Solution----
McCune-Albright syndrome (mosaicism, G-protein signaling mutation)
Calf pseudohypertrophy -- Verified--Solution----Muscular dystrophy
(Duchenne, due to X-linked frameshift > truncated dystrophin)
Dilated cardiomyopathy
High CK
Cervical lymphadenopathy, desquamating rash on palms and soles,
coronary aneurysms, red conjuctivae, and strawberry tongue -- Verified-
-Solution----Kawasaki disease (treat with IVIG and aspirin which
inhibits TXA2)
"Cherry-red spots" on macula -- Verified--Solution----Tay-Sachs
(ganglioside accumulation - NO hepatosplenomegaly)
Niemann-Pick (sphingomyelin accumulation)
Central retinal artery occlusion
Chest pain on exertion -- Verified--Solution----Angina (stable: with
moderate exertion, *cellular swelling indicates reversibility*,
USMLE Step 1 First Aid Rapid Review
2026 | Medical School Exam Prep |
Verified Questions & Answers for
Anatomy, Physiology & Pathology
Abdominal pain, ascites, hepatomegaly -- Verified--Solution----Budd-
Chiari Syndrome (post hepatic venous thrombosis). Associated with
Polycythemia vera.
Achilles tendon Xanthoma -- Verified--Solution----Familial
Hypercholesterolemia (absent/defective LDL receptors)
May have MI before age 20
Autosomal dominant
Adrenal hemorrhage, hypotension, DIC -- Verified--Solution----
Waterhouse-Friedrichsen syndrome (Neisseria meningitidis)
Anaphylaxis and/or angioedema following blood transfusion -- Verified-
-Solution----IgA deficiency; C1 inhibitor deficiency would only cause
angioedema, not anaphylaxis
Arachnodactyly (spider fingers), lens dislocation, aortic dissection or
aneurysm, hyperflexible joints, pectus excavatum -- Verified--Solution--
--Marfan Syndrome (FBN1 gene mutation
,2 | Page
chromosome 15 leads to defective fibrillin)
Autosomal Dominant
Athlete with polycythemia -- Verified--Solution----Secondary to EPO
injection
Back pain, fever, night sweats -- Verified--Solution----Pott disease
(vertebral TB)
Bilateral acoustic schwannomas -- Verified--Solution----
Neurofibromatosis type 2
S-100+, cerebellopontine angle
Bilateral hilar adenopathy, uveitis, high ACE, hypercalcemia (activated
macrophages for Vit D), interstitial fibrosis, erythema nodosum,
elevated CD4:CD8 ratio on lavage; asteroid bodies -- Verified--
Solution----Sarcoidosis (non-caseating granulomas)
Black eschar on face of patient with diabetic ketoacidosis -- Verified--
Solution----Mucor or Rhizopus fungal infection
Travels through cribiform plate vessels
Blue sclera -- Verified--Solution----Osteogenesis Imperfecta (Type I
collagen defect forming triple helix)
Blue due to exposure of choroidal veins
,3 | Page
Bluish line on gingiva and basophilic stippling -- Verified--Solution----
Burton line (lead poisoning)
Basophilic stippling (rRNA remnants)
Constipation, anemia, CNS impairment
Bone pain, bone enlargement (hat size or hearing loss), arthritis --
Verified--Solution----Paget disease of bone (Increased osteoclastic, then
osteoblastic activity)
Osteosarcoma or heart failure
Bounding pulses, wide pulse pressure, diastolic heart murmur, head
bobbing -- Verified--Solution----Aortic Regurgitation
"Butterfly" facial rash or discoid rash and Raynaud phenomenon in a
young female -- Verified--Solution----Systemic lupus erythematosus
Type III Hypersensitivity (antigen-antibody complexes deposit) with
glomerulonephritis
Type II hypersensitivity with autoimmune hemolysis
Carcinoma spread -- Verified--Solution----Lymphatics to lymph nodes
(except HCC, Renal cell, follicular thyroid and choriocarcinoma which
spread hematogenously)
Sarcoma spread -- Verified--Solution----Hematogenously
, 4 | Page
Cafe-au-lait spots, Lisch nodules (iris hemartoma), cutaneous
neurofibromas -- Verified--Solution----Neurofibromatosis Type I,
pheochromocytoma, optic gliomas
Cafe-au-lait spots (unilateral), polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, precocious
puberty, multiple endocrine abnormalities -- Verified--Solution----
McCune-Albright syndrome (mosaicism, G-protein signaling mutation)
Calf pseudohypertrophy -- Verified--Solution----Muscular dystrophy
(Duchenne, due to X-linked frameshift > truncated dystrophin)
Dilated cardiomyopathy
High CK
Cervical lymphadenopathy, desquamating rash on palms and soles,
coronary aneurysms, red conjuctivae, and strawberry tongue -- Verified-
-Solution----Kawasaki disease (treat with IVIG and aspirin which
inhibits TXA2)
"Cherry-red spots" on macula -- Verified--Solution----Tay-Sachs
(ganglioside accumulation - NO hepatosplenomegaly)
Niemann-Pick (sphingomyelin accumulation)
Central retinal artery occlusion
Chest pain on exertion -- Verified--Solution----Angina (stable: with
moderate exertion, *cellular swelling indicates reversibility*,
