Hematology
M protein below 3 g/dL, clonal plasma cells comprising less than 10% of bone marrow cellularity, and the absence of end-organ damage define this premalignant plasma cell disorder.
What is MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance)?
Two fasting, early-morning total testosterone levels below this threshold — measured between 7 and 10 AM — are required to confirm male hypogonadism.
What is 300 ng/dL?
The USPSTF recommends that all persons who plan to or could become pregnant take this daily vitamin supplement to prevent neural tube defects.
What is folic acid?
This antibiotic class is classically associated with drug-induced lupus.
What are tetracyclines?
This tick-borne intraerythrocytic illness — treated with IV azithromycin plus oral atovaquone for severe disease — may require exchange transfusion when parasitemia exceeds 10% or severe hemolysis or organ failure is present.
What is babesiosis?
For isolated deletion of chromosome 5q on karyotype with low-risk MDS, this immunomodulatory drug is the treatment of choice.
What is lenalidomide? (Alt: Revlimid)
A 30-year-old woman with a prolactin of 180 µg/L and a 7-mm pituitary microadenoma causing amenorrhea and galactorrhea is best treated with this dopamine agonist, preferred over bromocriptine for superior efficacy and convenience.
What is cabergoline?
The USPSTF recommends annual low-dose CT screening for lung cancer in adults aged 50–80 who have at least this many pack-years of smoking history and currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years.
What is 20 pack-years?
This milky pleural effusion — caused by disruption of the thoracic duct and accumulation of chyle — is most commonly caused by blunt chest trauma or lymphoma.
What is chylothorax?
In MSSA native valve endocarditis, this antistaphylococcal beta-lactam — or its equivalent oxacillin, with cefazolin as an acceptable alternative — is the treatment of choice because vancomycin is inferior for MSSA.
What is nafcillin? (Accept: oxacillin, cefazolin)
When a prolonged clotting time is evaluated by mixing equal parts patient plasma with pooled normal plasma, correction of the clotting time indicates this, while failure to correct indicates this other possibility.
What is a factor deficiency (corrects) vs. a circulating inhibitor (does not correct)? — This is the mixing study.
A young woman of Ashkenazi Jewish descent with oligomenorrhea, hirsutism, and a cycle day 5 17-hydroxyprogesterone of 8.2 ng/mL most likely has this diagnosis.
What is nonclassical congenital adrenal hyperplasia (NCCAH) due to 21-hydroxylase deficiency?
For women aged 30–65, the USPSTF allows cervical cancer screening every 5 years with this standalone test, as an alternative to Pap smear alone or co-testing.
What is high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) testing?
This treatable cause of dementia is diagnosed by clinical improvement after a large-volume lumbar puncture, which transiently relieves elevated intracranial pressure.
What is normal pressure hydrocephalus (NPH)?
For a non-pregnant patient with primary syphilis and documented severe penicillin allergy (anaphylaxis), this oral antibiotic — given 100 mg twice daily for 14 days — is the CDC-recommended alternative (azithromycin is discouraged due to macrolide resistance).
What is doxycycline?
In a patient with heavy menstrual bleeding and severe iron deficiency anemia, a platelet count of 545,000 is best explained by this reactive mechanism.
What is reactive thrombocytosis (secondary to iron deficiency)?
In asymptomatic primary hyperparathyroidism, parathyroidectomy is indicated if any one of several criteria is met. Name two criteria involving bone, kidney, or calcium.
Accept any two: BMD T-score ≤−2.5, vertebral fracture on imaging, CrCl <60 mL/min, nephrocalcinosis/nephrolithiasis, 24-hr urine calcium >400 mg/day, serum calcium >1 mg/dL above ULN, or age <50 years.
The USPSTF recommends screening ALL pregnant patients for this condition using urine culture, regardless of symptoms.
What is asymptomatic bacteriuria?
A patient with a multinodular goiter who receives iodine-based IV contrast develops new-onset palpitations, tremors, heat intolerance, and weight loss due to this eponymous phenomenon.
What is the Jod-Basedow effect?
This human herpesvirus — also associated with Kaposi sarcoma — is the causative agent of multicentric Castleman disease.
What is Human Herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8)?
This rare autosomal dominant bleeding disorder — caused by a gain-of-function mutation in the urokinase plasminogen activator gene — causes increased fibrinolysis, a normal platelet count, and bleeding that responds to antifibrinolytic therapy but not to platelets or factor replacement.
What is Quebec platelet disorder?
An adrenal mass with unenhanced CT attenuation above this value in Hounsfield units — indicating lipid-poor composition — requires biochemical screening for pheochromocytoma.
What is 10 Hounsfield units (HU > 10)?
The USPSTF assigns a Grade A recommendation to screen for this infection in all pregnant persons at their first prenatal visit — and separately recommends screening nonpregnant persons only if at increased risk.
What is syphilis?
Recurrent episodes of lip and tongue swelling without urticaria, unresponsive to epinephrine, with a low C4 and normal C1q, are consistent with this condition.
What is hereditary angioedema (HAE)?
In institutions using trough-based vancomycin monitoring for MRSA vertebral osteomyelitis, the target minimum trough is at or above this level.
[NOTE: Current guidelines favor AUC-guided dosing over trough monitoring — so will also accept target AUC/MIC]
What is ≥15 µg/mL? [Modern guidelines: target AUC/MIC 400–600]