Is the colon a retroperitoneal organ?
Only the ascending and descending parts.
What connects the heart to the diaphragm?
Central tendon![]()
Where does the bifurcation of the trachea occur?
Angle of Louis/Sternal Angle - T4/5
Which artery supplies the occipital lobe?
Posterior cerebral artery (branch of basilar)

What are 2 histological difference between thin and thick skin?
Thick skin:
- No hair follicles
- Complete absence of sebaceous glands
- Reduced sweat glands
During a scheduled laparoscopic cholecystectomy in a 47 year old female patient, the resident accidentally clamped the hepatoduodenal ligament instead of the cystic artery. Which of the following vessels would most likely be occluded in this iatrogenic injury?
A. Hepatic Artery Proper
B. IVC
C. Common Hepatic Artery
D. Right Hepatic Artery
A. Hepatic Artery Proper

after the common hepatic gives off the gastroduodenal, it is renamed proper hepatic artery
A 30-year-old male presents to the emergency department following a stab wound to the chest. He is anxious and short of breath. His blood pressure is 80/50 mmHg. On examination, his neck veins appear distended and heart sounds are difficult to hear.
What do these signs point to, and what condition is indicated?
Bec's Triad:
Which nerve sits between the trachea and esophagus?
Recurrent laryngeal nerve
What type of nerve fibre connects the 2 hemispheres and what is it called?
Corpus Callosum - made of Commissural fibres

Name at least 3 cells found in the epidermis.
Keratinocytes, Melanocytes, Langerhans cells and Merkel cells

Name at least 2 structures vulnerable to injury from a splenectomy.
List 3 acyanotic congenital heart malformations
1. Atrial septal defect
2. Ventricular septal defect
3. Patent ductus arteriosus
What differentiates bronchi and bronchioles histologically?
Bronchioles lack cartilage, and are surrounded by muscle.

Describe the pathway of CSF in the brain, from synthesis to drainage.
1. Secreted by the choroid plexus into lateral ventricles
2. CSF Flows through interventricular foramina into 3rd ventricle (of Monroe)
3. CSF travels through aqueduct of sylvius to the 4th ventricle (in hindbrain)
4. CSF travels to the subarachnoid space (through Foramina of Magendie & Luschka) and perfuses the external surfaces of brain and spinal cord
5. Reaches superior sagittal sinus and drains into dural venous sinuses in the arachnoid granulation → IJV → SVC → RA


Which skin cancer is MOST related to cumulative sun exposure?
Squamous Cell Carcinoma - related to chronic frequent UV exposure (S is for sum)
BCC: intermittent, infrequent intense - especially in childhood
Melanoma: intermittent and intense - most linked to sun exposure/burns in childhood
What is the vascular supply above and below the pectinate line?
Trace venous and arterial supply back at least 1 vessel.

A 65 year old male presents at ED with A 65-year-old male presents to the Emergency Department with severe central chest pain radiating to his left shoulder and medial aspect of his left arm. He is pale, diaphoretic, and short of breath. An ECG confirms an acute myocardial infarction (MI).
What is the anatomical basis for the referred pain experienced in this patient?
Nerves supplying heart are sympathetic nerve fibres (not somatic).
Visceral afferents from the heart travel with sympathetic fibres to T1-T4, converge on the same spinal neurons as somatic afferents.
The brain misattributes the pain to somatic dermatomes (T1-T4) as it cannot distinguish between visceral and sympathetic supply as they converge on the same second-order neurons.

A patient undergoes thoracocentesis for a pleural effusion.
Where is the needle typically inserted just in relation to a rib and why?

A 32-year-old woman presents to the emergency department after accidentally scratching her right cornea with a contact lens. When the cornea is lightly touched with a cotton wisp, she does not blink in either eye. Sensation is also reduced over her forehead and upper eyelid on the right side.
Which cranial nerve division is most likely affected? Describe its normal sensory distribution and explain its role in the corneal reflex.

- V1 impact causes no blink in either eye when the affected side is stimulated, also associated with loss of sensation on the eyelid and forhead
- VII impact causes blink only in contralateral eye (normal eye), as V1 still stimulates both sides via the trigeminal ganglion. Absent blink in the affected eye due to no supply to orbicularis oculi.

What is this structure, and what is its role?
Meissner's corpuscle, found within each dermal papillae of the dermis. They are touch receptors that detect vibration and motion.
What are the 3 nerves vulnerable to injury from a parotidectomy?
- Facial Nerve
- Auriculotemporal nerve (causes Frey's syndrome)
- Great Auricular Nerve
During embryological development, a foetal vessel connecting the pulmonary trunk and aortic arch fails to close after birth.
Name the foetal vessel, its adult remnant, and the nerve intimately related to it.

A patient presents with acute dyspnea and pleuritic pain following a DVT. Contrast the anatomy of the pulmonary circulation with the systemic circulation in terms of pressure and resistance and how it relates to this case.
The pulmonary circulation is a low-pressure, low-resistance system compared to the high-pressure systemic circuit.
- Enables right ventricle (pulmonary) to pump the entire cardiac output with minimal work
- A PE increases resistance sharply, which can lead to acute right heart strain because the thin-walled right ventricle is not anatomically designed to handle high afterload
In an extradural haematoma, an ocular finding can be a unilateral fixed and dilated pupil unresponsive to light. Why does this occur?


A patient with a facial basal cell carcinoma develops forehead numbness and loss of sensation over the upper eyelid.
What is the cause of their forehead numbness and loss of sensation, which specific structure in the face is implicated?
BCC can distribute via perineural nerve invasion, mainly in the face, when cells invade the perineurium.
V1 (opthalamic nerve) is impacted.