Check list for pathology university exam and class tests.
Prepared by [Link] Prabhu.
I can assure you that least 90% of questions will be from this bank. Make sure that you revise all the
must know topics on the day before the examination. The distinction question are for those who are more
academically inclined. :)
GENERAL PATHOLOGY
Lesson 1 – Cellular adaptations and cell injury.
Must know
1. Metaplasia
2. Hyperplasia
3. Differences between necrosis and apoptosis (better in tabular form)
4. Morphological features of reversible and irreversible injury (with diagrams)
5. Types of necrosis with diagram (fat necrosis – most important)
6. Morphology of apoptosis
7. Mechanisms of apoptosis (Atleast the basics – prepare it for short notes)
&
8. Steatosis
9. Lipofuscin
10. Dystrophic and metastatic calcification (Very important. Try to prepare a table listing out the
differences)
11. Gangrene. Difference between dry and wet gangrene.
Distinction question (only if you have time)
1. Short notes on oxidative stress
2. Short notes on cytoskeletal abnormalities
3. Defects in protein folding
Lesson 2 – Inflammation
Must know
1. Differences between exudates and transudate ( From Harshmohan -baby)
2. Diapedesis
3. Chemotaxis - very important
4. Phagocytosis (only the basics)
5. Chemical mediators of inflammation (prepare yourself short notes)
6. Arachidonic acid metabolites
7. Granulomatous inflammation
8. Types of giant cells and their morphology.
Distinction questions (only if you have time)
1. Leukocyte transmigration
2. Selectins (notes for 5 mrk)
3. Integrins (notes for 5 mrk)
4. Role of reactive oxygen intermediates in microbial killing
5. Defects in leukocyte function
6. Complement cascade and disorders
7. TNF
8. Chemokines
9. Fibrinous inflammation
10. Acute phase proteins
11. Lymphedema
Lesson 3 – tissue renewal and repair
Must know
1. Liver regeneration
2. Angiogenesis
3. Healing by first and second intention
·
4. Factors influencing wound healing
5. Complications of wound healing
(except for wound healing questions from this lesson are rare)
Distinction questions (only if you have time)
1. Growth factors
2. Collagen
3. Keloids
4. Granulation tissue
#
Lesson 4 – Hemodynamic disorders
Whole lesson is important. Don’t miss this lesson
Must know
1. CVC liver, spleen, lung (grass and histology)
2. Pathogenesis of thrombosis: Virchows triad
- Differences between arterial and venous thrombi
3.
4. Fate of a thrombus
5. Difference between phlebothrombosis and thrombophlebosis
6. Embolism: full
7. Red and white infarct (Very important)
8. Septic infarcts
9.
& Types and pathogenesis of septic shock (Very important -With diagram)
Distinction questions
1. Stages of shock
2. Pathogenesis of cardiogenic edema
O
Lesson 5 – Genetics
Though essential in every other aspect, except the following five topics (very very
important), I personally expect no other question from this lesson in university exam. Not to
waste time in this lesson at the eleventh hour
Must know
1. Marfans syndrome
2. Ehlers – Danlos syndromes (only the basics)
⑧3.
4.
Downs syndrome (with diag)
Turner syndrome (with diag)
5. Barr body
Distinction questions
1. Transmission pattern and characteristics of
a. Autosomal dominant
b. Autosomal recessive
c. X- linked recessive disorders
2. Tay sachs disease
3. Hurlers and hunters syndrome
4. Von – gierkes disease
5. Sex chromatin
6. Klinefelter
7. Fragile – X syndrome
8. Genomic imprinting (only the basics)
Micro
Lesson 6 – Immunity
Important lesson. Your knowledge of microbiology should help
Must know
1. T- lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes
2. Antigen presenting cells
3. NK cells
4. Type 1, type 2, type 3 and type4 hypersensitivity
5. SLE (Important -only the basics)
T
6. LE cell (Important -notes for 5 makrs)
7. Kidney manifestations in SLE
& AIDS – Full (pathogenesis, CRS involvement,
8. natural history, aids defining conditions,
kaposi's sarcoma) – can be asked as case (very important)
D
9. Amyloidosis (Prepare notes for 5 marks) - Again very important
10. Difference between sago spleen and lardaceous spleen
Distinction questions:
1. Cytokines: types and functions
2. HLA molecules (notes for 5 marks)
3. Arthus reaction for 5 marks
4. Types and morphology of graft rejection (prepare notes for 5 marks)
5. Anergy
6. Digeorge syndrome
Lesson 7 neoplasia
A
Except for p53 and RB (important), the whole of molecular level of cancer path can be
skipped exams, though you might need them for better understanding
Must know
1. Characteristics of benign and malignant tumors.
2. Diff between benign and malignant tumors (as table)
3. Metastasis: pathways of spread of tumor (very important)
4. P53-as guardian of human genome (With diag)
5. Retinoblastoma: two hig hypothesis of RB gene
6. Chemical carcinogenesis (etiology, pathogenesis)
7. Viral carcinogenesis (HPV-very important) - Important
8. Paraneoplatic syndromes - very important
9. Tumor markers (oncofetal antigens-very important)
Distinction questions:
1. Differences between anaplasia and dysplasia (prepare notes for 5 marks)
2. 5 occupational cancers with their etiologic agent
3. Oncogenes (notes for 5 marks)
4. Radiation carcinogenesis
5. Tumor antigens (notes for 5 marks)
6. Laboratory diagnosis of cancer (basic points only)
Lesson 8 Infectious diseases
Must Know:
Pathogenesis, morphology, c/f and complications of TB (very very important)
&
1. Other important questions in tuberculosis:
a. Ghons focus
Lesson 9 Environment and nutrition
Chances of getting a question from this chapter are near to nil. If at all, you might get
1. Rickets
Distinction questions:
1. Radiation injury
2. PEM
-
Lesson 10 Infancy and childhood
Again, other than Wilms tumor, chances of getting a question is less, as seen from previous
papers. But still, an important lesson.
Must know:
1. Immune hydrops
2. Cystic fibrosis (though important has not been asked in any question papers mostly – know only
the basics)
3. Wilms tumor or nephroblastoma (very important)
=
Distinction questions:
1. Neuroblastoma
2. Phenyketonuria
3. Necrotizing enterocolitis
4. Respiratory distress syndrome
SYSTEMIC PATHOLOGY
Hematology
Please note that the whole of hematology account for nearly 40% of marks in paper 1.
Must study topics.
10 marks or LONG CASE
The pathogenesis, peripheral blood picture, bone marrow picture, other relevant morphology,
INVESTIGATIONS (for investigations, you might refer to Alagappan - manual of medicine
separately under each heading) , c/f of
1. Sickle cell disease
2. B- thallasemia
3. Megaloblastic anemia, esp. pernicious anemia
4. Iron deficiency anemia
5. Hemophilia A
6. ALL
7. CLL
8. Multiple myeloma
9. Hodgkin disease- types, pathogenesis, basic morphology of each type and their prognosis, clinical
features
10. AML (In addition to the general headings, you need to know atleast the basics of FAB
classification)
11. CML (pathophysiology, morphology and investigations)
12. Polycythemia vera
All these 12 questions are must read for all hematology exams
Important note:
Before diagnosing the case, please make sure that the age of the concerned patient coincides
with the age group affected, for that particular disease, as given in Robbins. Also look for
characteristic symptoms like lymphadenopathy, bone tenderness, abrupt onset, massive
splenomegaly, cancer cachexia, etc. These clue words in the case are directly picked from
Robbins. So don’t miss the clinical features of any suspected long case. For all investigations for
any long case, refer to Alagappan- manual of medicine.
Again please note that more than 50% of previous paper 1 question papers have CML (massive
splenomegaly) as the long answer.
Short notes for Lesson 13 RBCs and platelets
D
Must know:
1.
2.
Classification of anemia, according to underlying pathology
Heriditary spherocytosis (pathogenesis and morphology)
3. Howell jolly bodies (prepare notes)
4. Heinz bodies (prepare notes)
5. Bone marrow picture in megaloblastic anemia
6. Pathophysiology of B-thalassemia
7. Aplastic anemia- very important 5 mark- prepare notes for 5 marks, incorporating all the
headings.
8. Von – willebrand disease
9. Hemophilia A and B
10. DIC – Very important. Prepare notes for 5 marks. For pathophysiology, the flow chart in Robbins
is enough.
Distinction questions in 5 marks:
1. α-thallasemia (Just know the types, genetics of each condition and the outcome)
2. Immuno hemolytic anemia (only the table in Robbins is more than enough)
3. ITP
Short notes for Lesson 14 – WBCs
Must know:
& 1. Agranulocytosis – very important, highly repeated (prepare notes for 5 marks under the headings-
pathogenesis, morphology and c/f)
2. Leukimoid reaction – important
3. Burkitt's lymphoma – again very important
4. Follicular lymphoma
5. Hairy cell leukemia
6. Reed-sternberg cell- pathogenesis, types and morphology (with diagram) - Very important
7. Differences between Hodgkins and Non-Hodgkins lymphoma
8. Myeloblasts – morphology
9. Morphology of MDS syndrome
10. Gandy gamma bodies in CVC spleen
11. The Philadelphia chromosome (Important0
Distinction questions in 5 marks:
1. Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (rare)
2. Lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (rare)
3. Mantle cell lymphoma (rare)
4. Sezary syndrome
5. Histicytosis (LCL)
Other very important general 5 mark questions in hematology:
1. ABO incompatibility
2. Rh incompatibility
3. Coomb’s test
4. Packed cell volume (PCV)
Lesson 11 – Blood vessels
Apart from Atherosclerosis, other topics are generally not important for univ. exams.
Must know:
⑧
1. Pathogenesis of atherosclerosis – highly repeated (prepare notes for 5 marks)
2. Morphology of atherosclerotic plaque – 5 marks
3. Aortic dissection – 5 marks
Distinction questions:
1. Types and morphology of aneurysms
2. PAN (rare)
3. Wegener's granulomatosis (very rare)
Lesson 12 – The heart
10 marks or long questions:
1. Myocardial infarction – pathogenesis, morphology, investigations and diagnosis, complications
(prepare notes for 10 marks – very important)
2. Rheumatic heart disease – pathogenetic sequence, morphology and investigations, diagnosis
(Highly repeated)
3. Infective endocarditis – etiology, morphology and diagnostic criteria (Very important)
5 marks:
1. Mitral valve prolapse
2. Types of angina
3. Causes and types of pericarditis (rare)
Lesson 15 – The Lung
10 mark cases:
1. Bronchiectais (very important)
2. Asthma
3. Emphysema
4. Ca lung – Squamous cell Ca, AdenoCa, Small cell, Large cell – gross pathology , histology and
prognosis. Local effects of tumor spread (very important. Local effects can be asked as short
notes also)
Must know in 5 marks:
1. Pathogenesis and types of emphysema (very important)
2. Asbestosis
3. Pneumoconiosis (prepare notes for 5 marks)
4. Pulmonary embolism
5. Etiology and morphology of community acquired pneumonia (Very important)
6. Lung abscess (important)
7. Pancoast tumors ( highly repeated)
