Neurology/Psychology
This neurotransmitter is deficient in the nigrostriatal pathway in Parkinson disease, producing bradykinesia, rigidity, and resting tremor.
What is dopamine?
This degenerative joint disease involves progressive loss of articular cartilage, subchondral bone remodeling, and osteophyte formation.
What is osteoarthritis?
Failure of the lower esophageal sphincter to prevent reflux of gastric contents produces this common disorder.
What is gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)?
This obstructive pulmonary disorder is characterized by reversible airflow limitation, airway hyperresponsiveness, and chronic airway inflammation.
What is asthma?
This hormone produced primarily by renal peritubular interstitial cells stimulates red blood cell production in the bone marrow.
What is erythropoietin?
A patient develops unilateral facial weakness involving both the forehead and lower face. The inability to wrinkle the forehead helps distinguish this peripheral disorder from an upper motor neuron stroke.
What is Bell palsy?
This systemic autoimmune disease commonly produces symmetric inflammatory polyarthritis through synovial inflammation and pannus formation.
What is rheumatoid arthritis?
This chronic inflammatory skin disorder is characterized by epidermal hyperproliferation, abnormal keratinocyte differentiation, and immune activation involving the IL-23/Th17 axis.
What is psoriasis?
Destruction of alveolar walls and loss of elastic recoil cause air trapping and hyperinflation in this form of COPD.
What is emphysema?
Persistent urinary albumin excretion is an early clinical marker of glomerular injury in this common complication of diabetes mellitus.
What is diabetic kidney disease (diabetic nephropathy)?
This neurotransmitter is the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the CNS.
What is GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid)?
A young woman presents with photosensitivity, inflammatory arthritis, renal abnormalities, and positive ANA and anti-double-stranded DNA antibodies.
What is systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)?
This inflammatory bowel disease can involve any portion of the GI tract and is characterized by transmural inflammation, skip lesions, fistulas, and strictures.
What is Crohn disease?
A patient has fever, productive cough, focal crackles, and a lobar infiltrate on chest imaging. Alveolar filling with inflammatory exudate causes impaired gas exchange.
What is pneumonia?
This disorder is characterized by hyperandrogenism and ovulatory dysfunction and is commonly associated with insulin resistance.
What is polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)?
A patient has recurrent episodes of mania alternating with major depressive episodes. Mania is associated with dysregulation of dopaminergic, glutamatergic, and intracellular signaling pathways rather than a single neurotransmitter abnormality.
What is bipolar I disorder?
This inflammatory arthritis results from deposition of monosodium urate crystals, which activate the NLRP3 inflammasome and trigger IL-1β-mediated neutrophilic inflammation.
What is gout?
A patient develops severe epigastric pain radiating to the back and elevated serum lipase. Premature activation of pancreatic digestive enzymes causes autodigestion and inflammation.
What is acute pancreatitis?
A patient develops sudden dyspnea, pleuritic chest pain, tachycardia, and hypoxemia after prolonged immobilization. Ventilated but underperfused alveoli create increased physiologic dead space.
What is pulmonary embolism?
Hematuria, RBC casts, hypertension, edema, and reduced GFR indicate inflammation primarily affecting this portion of the nephron.
What is the glomerulus?
An older adult has progressive cognitive decline, early executive dysfunction, slowed processing, gait disturbance, and MRI evidence of extensive white-matter ischemic disease. The underlying mechanism is cumulative cerebrovascular injury rather than primary amyloid deposition.
What is vascular dementia?
A patient has proximal muscle weakness, elevated creatine kinase, and a heliotrope rash. Autoimmune injury to muscle and characteristic cutaneous manifestations distinguish this condition from polymyositis.
What is dermatomyositis?
Chronic diarrhea, weight loss, iron deficiency, and dermatitis herpetiformis occur in a patient with antibodies against tissue transglutaminase. Gluten exposure causes T-cell-mediated injury and villous atrophy in the small intestine.
What is celiac disease?
This form of respiratory failure results primarily from inadequate alveolar ventilation, causing arterial carbon dioxide retention and respiratory acidosis.
What is hypercapnic, or type II, respiratory failure?
A reproductive-age patient has cyclic pelvic pain, dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, and infertility. Ectopic endometrial-like tissue undergoes estrogen-dependent inflammation, fibrosis, and adhesion formation.
What is endometriosis?