Medical Conditions 1 (tables 1-8)
Memorize important facts involving diseases and medical conditions.♦ See also: Medical Conditions 2
8 tables of "Classic findings"
3 tables of "Most Common Associations"
2 tables of "Most Frequent Causes"
You can memorize...
♦ one table at a time (click "memorize" on the column heading)
♦ all tables in a category (click "memorize all" at the end of the category)
♦ all tables together (click "memorize all on this page" at the bottom of the page)
Classic Findings
| (1) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Actinic Keratosis | Often precedes squamous cell carcinoma |
| Albright's syndrome | Polyostotic fibrous dysplasia, precocious puberty, cafe-au-lait spots, short stature, young girls |
| Albuminocytologic dissociation | Guillain-Barre (increased protein in CSF with only modest increase in cell count) |
| Alport's syndrome | Hereditary nephritis with nerve deafness |
| Anti-basement membrane antibodies | Goodpasture's syndrome |
| Anti-centromere antibodies | Scleroderma (CREST) |
| Anti-epithelial cell antibodies | pemphigus vulgaris |
| Anti-gliadin antibodies | celiac disease |
| Anti-histone antibodies | drug-induced SLE |
| Anti-IgG antibodies | Rheumatoid |
| Anti-mitochondrial antibodies | Primary biliary cirrhosis |
| Anti-platelet antibodies | ITP |
| Arachnodactyly | Marfan's syndrome |
| Argyll Robertson Pupil | Neurosyphilis |
| Arnold Chiari malformation | cerebellar tonsillar herniation |
| Aschoff bodies | Rheumatic fever |
| Atrophy of the mamillary bodies | Wernicke's encephalopathy |
| Auer rods | Acute myelogenous leukemia (especially promyelocytic) |
| Autosplenectomy | Sickle cell anemia |
| Babinski's sign | UMN Lesion |
| Baker's cyst in popliteal fossa | Rheumatoid arthritis |
| Bamboo spine | ankylosing spondylitis |
| Bartter's syndrome | Hyper-reninemia |
| Basophilic stippling of RBC | Lead poisoning; beta-Thalassemia |
| Becker's muscular dystrophy | defective dystrophin, less severe than Duchenne's |
| Bell's palsy | LMN CN VII palsy |
| Bence Jones proteins | Multiple myeloma (K or L light chains); Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (IgM) |
| (2) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Berger's disease | IgA nephropathy |
| Bernard-Soulier | Defect in platelet adhesion |
| Bilateral Hilar Adenopathy & Uveitis | Sarcoidosis |
| Birbeck Granules on EM | Histiocytosis X (Eosinophilic granuloma) |
| Bloody tap on LP | Subarachnoid Hemorrhage |
| Blue Bloater | Chronic Bronchitis |
| Blue domed cysts | Fibrocystic change of breast |
| Blue Sclera | osteogenesis imperfecta |
| Boot-shaped heart on x-ray | T.O.F. or R Ventricle Hypertrophy |
| Bouchard's Nodule | osteoarthritis (PIP swelling secondary to osteophytes) |
| Boutonnier deformity | rheumatoid arthritis |
| Branching rods in oral infection | Actinomyces israelii |
| Brown tumor of bone | hemorrhage causes brown color of osteolytic cysts, caused by hyperparathyroidism, osteitis fibrosa cystica |
| Brushfield spots | Down syndrome |
| Bruton's Disease | X linked agammaglobulinemia (deficiency of tyrosine kinase) |
| Budd Chiari syndrome | posthepatic venous thrombosis |
| Buerger's Disease | thromboangiitis obliterans, small to medium artery vasculitis |
| Burkitt's Lymphoma | t(8;14) associated with EBV |
| Burton's lines | lead poisoning |
| c-anca | wegener's granulomatosis |
| p-anca | polyarteritis nodosa |
| cafe-au-lait spots on skin | neurofibromatosis |
| Caisson disease | nitrogen gas emboli |
| Calf pseudohypertrophy | Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy |
| Call-exner bodies | granulosa theca cell tumor of ovary |
| Cardiomegaly with atypical atrophy | Chagas' Disease |
| Cerebriform nuclei | mycosis fungoides (cutaneous T cell lymphoma) |
| Chagas' disease | Trypanosome infection (kissing bug feeds on sleeping persons, defecates in their wounds) |
| Chancre | Primary syphilis (not painful) |
| Chancroid | H. ducreyi (painful) |
| Charcot's Triad | Multiple sclerosis: 1. nystagmus 2. intention tremor 3. scanning speech |
| Charcot's Triad | Cholangitis: 1. RUQ pain 2. Fever 3. Jaundice |
| Charcot Leyden Crystals | Bronchial asthma (pieces of eosinophil membranes) |
| Chediak-Higashi Disease | Phagocyte deficiency |
| (3) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Cherry-red spot on macula | Tay-Sachs, Niemann-Pick, central retinal artery occlusion |
| Cheyne Stokes Respiration | Central apnea in CHF and increased ICP |
| Chocolate cysts | Endometriosis |
| Chronic atrophic gastritis | predisposition to gastric carcinoma |
| Chvosteks sign | Hypocalcemia (facial muscle spasm upon tapping) |
| Clear cell adenocarcinoma of the vagina | DES exposure in utero |
| Clue cells | Gardnerella vaginitis |
| Codman's triangle on x-ray | osteosarcoma |
| cold agglutinins | Mycoplasma pneumoniae, infectious mononucleosis |
| Cold intolerance | Hypothyroidism |
| Condylomata lata | secondary syphilis |
| Continuous machinery murmur | Patent ductus arteriosus |
| Cori's disease | Debranching enzyme deficiency |
| Cotton-wool spots | Chronic hypertension |
| Cough, conjuntivitis, coryza + fever | measles |
| Councilman bodies | toxic or viral hepatitis |
| Cowdry type A bodies | herpes virus |
| Crescents in Bowman's capsule | rapidly progressive crescentic glomerulonephritis |
| Crigler-Najjar syndrome | congenital unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia |
| curling's ulcer | acute gastric ulcer associated with sever burns |
| Currant jelly sputum | Klebsiella |
| Curschmann's spirals | Bronchial asthma (whorled mucous plugs) |
| cushing's ulcer | acute gastric ulcer associated with CNS injury |
| D-Dimers | DIC |
| Depigmentation of neurons in substantia nigra | Parkinson's disease (basal ganglia disorder: rigidity, resting tremor, bradykinesia) |
| Dermatitis, dementia, diarrhea | Pellagra (niacin, vitamin B3 deficiency) |
| Diabetes insipidus + exopthalmos + lesions of skull | Hand-Schuller-Christian disease |
| Doc or cat bite | pasteurella multocida |
| Donovan bodies | Granuloma inguinale |
| Dressler's syndrome | Post-MI fibrinous pericarditis |
| (4) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Dubin-Johnson syndrome | Congenital conjugated hyperbilirubinemia (black liver) |
| Duchenne's muscular dystrophy | deleted dystrophin gene (x-linked recessive) |
| Eburnation | Osteoarthritis (polished, ivory-like appearnace of bone) |
| Edwards' sydrome | Trisomy 18: rocker-bottom feet, low set ears, heart disease |
| Eisenmenger's complex | late cyaniosis shunt (uncorrected L to R shunt becomes R to L shunt) |
| Elastic skin | Ehlers-Danlos syndrome |
| Erb-Duchenne palsy | Superior trunk brachial plexus injury ("waiter's tip") |
| Fanconi's syndrome | proximal tubular reabsorption defect |
| "Fat, female, forty, fertile" | Acute cholecystitis |
| Fatty liver | Alcoholism |
| Ferruginous bodies | Asbestosis |
| Gardner's syndrome | Colon polyps with osteomas and soft tissue tumors |
| Gaucher's disease | Glucocerebrosidase deficiency |
| Ghon focus | primary TB |
| Gilbert's syndrome | Benign congenital unconjugated hyperbilirubinemia |
| Glanzmann's thrombasthenia | Defect in platelet aggregation |
| Goodpasture's syndrome | Autoantibodies against alveolar and glomerular basement membrane proteins |
| Gowers' maneuver | Duchenne's (use of arms to help legs pick self up off floor) |
| Guillain-Barre syndrome | idiopathic polyneuritis |
| "Hair-on-end" appearance on x-ray | beta thalassemia, sickle cell. (extramedullary hematopoesis) |
| Hand-Schuller-Christian disease | Chronic progressive histiocytosis |
| HbF | Thalassemia major |
| HbS | Sickle cell anemia |
| hCG elevated | Choriocarcinoma, hydatidiform mole (occurs without embryo) |
| Heberden's nodes | Osteoarthritis (DIP swelling secondary to osteophytes) |
| Heinz bodies | G6PD deficiency |
| Henoch-Schonlein purpura | Hypersensitivity vasculitis associated with hemorrhagic urticaria and URIs |
| Heterophil antibodies | Infectious mononucleosis (EBV) |
| High-output cardiac failure (dilated cardiomyopathy) | Wet beriberi (Thiamine, vit B1 deficiency) |
| HLA B27 | Reiter's syndrome, ankylosing spondylitis |
| HLA-DR3 or DR4 | Diabetes mellitus type 1 (autoimmune destruction of beta cells) |
| Homer Wright rosettes | Neuroblastoma |
| Honeycomb lung on x-ray | Interstitial fibrosis |
| (5) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Horner's syndrome | Ptosis, miosis, anhidrosis |
| Howell-Jolly bodies | Splenectomy (or nonfunctional spleen) |
| Huntington's Disease | Caudate degeneration (autosomal dominant) |
| Hyperphagia + hypersexuality + hyperorality + hyperdocility | Kluver-Bucy syndrome (amygdala) |
| Hyperpigmentation of skin | primary adrenal insufficiency (Addison's disease) |
| Increased alpha-fetoprotein in amniotic fluid/maternal serum | Anencephaly, spina bifida (neural tube defects) |
| Increased uric acid levels | Gout, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, myeloproliferative disorders, loop and thiazide diuretics |
| Intussusception | Adenovirus (causes hyperplasia of Peyer's patches) |
| Janeway lesions | Endocarditis |
| Jarisch-Herxheimer reaction | Syphilis-overaggressive treatment of an asymptomatic patient that causes symptoms due to rapid lysis |
| Job's syndrome | Neutrophil chemotaxis abnormality |
| Kaposi's sarcoma | AIDS in MSM |
| Kartagener's syndrome | Dynein defect |
| Kayser-Fleischer rings | Wilson's disease |
| Keratin pearls | Squamous cell carcinoma |
| Kimmelsteil-Wilson nodules | Diabetic nephropathy |
| Kluver-Bucy syndrome | Bilateral amygdala leisons |
| Koilocytes | HPV |
| Koplik spots | Measles |
| Krukenberg tumor | Gastric adenocarcinoma with ovarian metastases |
| Kussmaul hyperpnea | Diabetic ketoacidosis |
| Lens dislocation + aortic dissection + joint hyperflexibility | Marfan's syndrome (fibrillin defect) |
| Lesch-Nyhan syndrome | HGPRT deficiency |
| Lewey Bodies | Parkinson's disease |
| Libman-Sacks disease | endocarditis associated with SLE |
| Lines of Zahn | arterial thrombus |
| Lisch nodules | Neurofibromatosis (von Recklinghausen's disease) |
| (5) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Low serum ceruloplasmin | Wilson's disease |
| Loeffler endocarditis | endomyocardial fibrosis with hypereosinophilia syndrome |
| Lucid interval | Epidural hematoma |
| "Lumpy-bumpy" appearance of glomeruli on immunofluorescence | Poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis |
| Lytic bone lesions on x-ray | Multiple myeloma |
| Mallory bodies | Alcoholic liver disease |
| Mallory-Weiss syndrome | Esophagogastric lacerations |
| McArdle's disease | Muscle phosphorylase deficiency |
| McBurney's sign | Appendicitis |
| MLF syndrome (INO) | Multiple sclerosis |
| Monoclonal antibody spike | Multiple myleoma, MGUS, Waldenstrom's |
| Myxedema | Hypothyroidism |
| Necrotizing vasculitis (lungs) and necrotizing glomerulonephritis | Wegener's and Goodpasture's |
| Needle0shpaed, negatively birefringent crystals | Gout |
| Negri bodies | Rabies |
| Nephritis + cataracts + hearing loss | Alport's syndrome |
| Neurofilbrillary tangles | Alzheimer's disease |
| Niemann-Pick disease | Sphingomyelinase deficiency |
| No lactation postpartum | Sheehan's syndrome (pituatary infarction) |
| Nutmeg liver | CHF |
| Occupational exposure to asbestos | Malignant mesothelioma |
| "Orphan Annie" nuclei | Papillary carcinoma of the thyroid |
| Osler's nodes | Endocarditis |
| Owl's eye | CMV |
| Painless jaundice | Pancreatic cancer (head) |
| Palpable purpura on legs and buttocks | Henoch-Schonlein purpura |
| Pancoast's tumor | Bronchogenic apical tumor assoc. with horner's syndrome |
| Pannus | Rheumatoid arthritis |
| Parkinson's disease | Nigrostriatal dopamine depletion |
| Periosteal elevation on x-ray | pyogenic osteomyelitis |
| Peutz-Jeghers syndrome | Benign polyposis |
| Peyronie's disease | Penile fibrosis |
| (6) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Philadelphia chromosome | CML (maybe sometimes AML) |
| Pick bodies | Pick's disease |
| Pick's disease | Progressive dememtia, similar to Alzheimer's |
| Plummer-Vinson syndrome | Esophageal webs with iron deficiency anemia |
| Podagra | Gout (MP joint of hallux) |
| Podocyte fusion | Minimal change disease |
| Polyneuropathy, cardiac pathology, and edema | Dry beriberi |
| Pompe's disease | Lysosomal glucosidase deficiency assoc with cardiomegaly |
| Port-wine stain | Hemangioma |
| Positivie anterior "drawer sign" | Anterior cruciate ligament injury |
| Pott's disease | Vertebral tuberculosis |
| Pseudopalisade tumor cell arrangement | Glioblastoma multiforme |
| Pseudorosettes | Ewing's Sarcoma |
| Ptosis, miosis, anhidrosis | Horner's syndrome (often assoc w/ Pancoast's tumor) |
| Rash on palms and soles | Syphilis, Rocky mountain spotted fever |
| Raynaud's syndrome | Recurrent vasospasm in extremeties |
| RBC casts in urine | acute glomerulonephritis |
| Recurrent pulmonary Pseudomonas and s. aureus infections | cystic fibrosis |
| red urine in the morning | paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria |
| Reed-Sternberg cells | Hodgkin's lymphoma |
| Reid index increased | Chronic bronchitis |
| Reinke crystals | Leydig cell tumor |
| Reiter's syndrome | urethritis, conjunctivitis, arthritis |
| Renal cell carcinoma + cavernous hemangiomas + adenomas | von Hippel-Lindau disease |
| Renal epithelial cell casts in urine | Acute toxic/viral nephrosis |
| Rhomboid crystals, positively birefringent | Pseudogout |
| (7) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| Rib notching | coarctation of the aorta |
| Roth's spots in retina | endocarditis |
| Rotor's syndrome | congenital conjugated hyperbilirubinemia |
| Rouleaux formation (RBCs) | Multiple myeloma |
| Russell bodies | Multiple myeloma |
| S3 | Left-to-right shunt (VSD, PDA, ASD), mitral regurg, LV failure (CHF) |
| S4 | Aortic stenosis, hypertrophic subaortic stenosis |
| Schiller-Duval bodies | Yolk sac tumor |
| Senile plaques | Alzheimer's disease |
| Sezary syndrome | cutaneous t-cell lymphoma |
| Sheehan's syndrome | postpartum pituitary necrosis |
| Shwartzman reaction | Neisseria meningitidis |
| Signet-ring cells | gastric carcinioma |
| Simian crease | Down syndrome |
| Sipple's syndrome | MEN type IIa |
| Sjogren's syndrome | Dry eyes, dry mouth, arthritis |
| Skip lesions | Crohn's |
| Slapped cheeks | Erythema infectosum (Fifth disease) |
| Smith antigen | SLE |
| "Smudge cell" | CLL |
| Soap bubble on x-ray | Giant cell tumor of bone |
| Spike and dome on EM | MEmbranous glomerulonephritis |
| Spitz nevus | Benign juvenile melanoma |
| Splinter hemorrhages in fingernails | Endocarditis |
| Starry-sky pattern | Burkitt's lymphoma |
| Strawberry tongue | Scarlet fever |
| Streaky ovaries | turner's syndrome |
| String sign on x-ray | Crohn's disease |
| Subepthlial humps on EM | Poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis |
| Suboccipital lymphadenopathy | Rubella |
| Sulfur granules | Actinomycetes israelii |
| Swollen gums, bruising, poor wound healing, anemia | Scurvy (ascorbic acid, vitamin C deficiency) |
| Systolic ejection murmur (Crescendo/decrescendo) | aortic stenosis |
| (8) Disease/Finding (memorize) | Association (memorize) |
|---|---|
| t(8;14) | Burkitt's lymphoma (c-myc activation) |
| t(9;22) | Philadelphia chromosome, CML, bcr-abl |
| t(14;18) | Follicular lymphomas (bcl-2 activation) |
| Tabes dorsalis | Tertiary syphilis |
| Tendon xanthomas (classically Achilles) | Familial hypercholesterolemia |
| Thumb sign on lateral x-ray | Epiglottitis (H. flu) |
| Thyroidization of kidney | Chronic bacterial pyelonephritis |
| Tophi | Gout |
| "Tram-track" appearance on LM | Membranoproliferative Glomerulonephritis |
| Trousseau's sign | Visceral cancer, pancreatic adenocarcinoma (migratory thrombophlebitis), hypocalcemia (carpal spasm) |
| Virchow's node | Left supraclavicular node enlargement from metastatic carcinoma of the stomach |
| Virchow's triad | Pulmonary embolism=stasis, endothelial damage, hypercoagulable state |
| von Recklinghausen's disease | Neurofibromatosis with cafe aulait spots |
| von Recklinghausen's disease of bone | Osteitis fibrosa cystica ("Brown tumor") |
| Wallenberg's syndrome | PICA thrombosis |
| Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome | Adrenal hemorrhage associated with meningococcemia |
| Waxy casts | Chronic end-stage renal disease |
| WBC casts in urine | Acute pyelonephritis |
| WBCs in urine | Acute cystitis |
| Wermer's syndrome | MEN type I |
| Whipple's disease | Malabsorption syndrome caused by Tropheryma whippelii |
| Wilson's disease | Hepatolenticular degeneration |
| "wire loop" appearance on LM | Lupus nephropathy |
| Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome | sex linked recessive disorder: thrombocytopenia, eczema, recurrent sinopulmonary infections, low IgM, increased IgG, IgA, IgE. T cells can't bind B cells |
| "Worst headache of my life" | Berry aneurysm, assoc with adult polycystic kidney dz |
| Xanthochromia (CSF) | Subaracnoid hemorrhage |
| Xerostomia + arthritis + keratoconjunctivitis sicca | Sjogren's syndrome |
| Zenker's diverticulum | Upper GI diverticulum |
| Zollinger Ellison syndrome | Gastrin-secreting tumor associated with ulcers |
Add a section to this page!
- Click this button to contribute to this page (by adding a section here).♦
Feel free to experiment. Your edits won't immediately show up to everyone.
working...