100 Cases in Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine , 2nd Edition

A 77-year-old man phones ‘999’ after experiencing severe backache. The paramedics arrive to find him in severe pain, and cold and clammy. While at his house, they note that he smokes and also elicit a history of hypertension. He is tachycardic and hypotensive en route to hospital, and intravenous fluids are started. You have been assigned his initial assessment ...

100 Cases in Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine presents 100 clinical scenarios commonly seen by medical students and junior doctors in the emergency department, outpatient clinic, operating theatre or in general practice. A succinct summary of the patient`s history, examination and initial investigations is followed by questions on each case, with particular emphasis on the interpretation of the results and in which an understanding of the underlying clinical pathology is central to arriving at the correct diagnosis. The answer includes a detailed discussion on each topic, providing an essential revision aid as well as a practical guide for students and junior doctors, especially those preparing for undergraduate and postgraduate examinations.

Making speedy and appropriate clinical decisions, and choosing the best course of action to take as a result, is one of the most important and challenging parts of training to become a doctor. Fully revised and updated for this second edition, these true-to-life cases will teach students and junior doctors to recognize important clinical conditions, to request the appropriate pathological investigation and correctly interpret those results, and, as a result, to develop their diagnostic and management skills.

Section 1- LABORATORY MEDICINE

Case 1 POLYURIA AND POLYDIPSIA

Case 2 TRACES OF BLOOD FOUND ON URINE DIPSTICK

Case 3 CONFUSION, LETHARGY AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH

Case 4 A CHILD WITH FACIAL SWELLING

Case 5 JOINT PAINS AND FATIGUE

Case 6 ANXIETY, IRRITABILITY AND REDUCED MENSTRUAL FREQUENCY

Case 7 SCREENING FOR PROSTATE CANCER?

Case 8 A YOUNG WOMAN FOUND UNCONSCIOUS IN BED

Case 9 A MIDDLE-AGED WOMAN WITH JAUNDICE

Case 10 DRUG OVERDOSE

Case 11 FATIGUE, WEAKNESS AND CONSTIPATION

Case 12 EXCESSIVE HAIR GROWTH AND INFERTILITY

Case 13 FATIGUE AND IRREGULAR PERIODS

Case 14 STIFF AND PAINFUL HANDS

Case 15 ABDOMINAL PAIN, NAUSEA AND VOMITING

Case 16 FREQUENT THROAT AND CHEST INFECTIONS

Case 17 A ROUTINE ‘HEALTH CHECK’ FOR A 55-YEAR-OLD MAN

Case 18 COLLAPSE IN A PATIENT UNDERGOING CHEMOTHERAPY

Case 19 A 10-DAY-OLD BABY WITH AMBIGUOUS GENITALIA

Case 20 FATIGUE, WEAKNESS AND WEIGHT GAIN

Case 21 HYPERTENSION IN A YOUNG WOMAN

Case 22 NAUSEA, VOMITING, WEAKNESS AND PARAETHESIA

Case 23 ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION IN A YOUNG MAN

Case 24 A YOUNG MAN WITH ‘HIGH CHOLESTEROL’

Case 25 RASH AFTER A BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT

Case 26 A FALL ON AN OUTSTRETCHED HAND

Case 27 A PATIENT IN FOLLOW-UP AFTER A LIVER TRANSPLANT

Case 28 A MAN WITH POORLY CONTROLLED BLOOD PRESSURE

Case 39 DIZZINESS ON STANDING UPRIGHT

Case 30 SUDDEN-ONSET CHEST PAIN IN A TALL WOMAN

Case 31 CONCERNS ABOUT THE RISK OF BREAST CANCER

Case 32 SEIZURE IN A NEONATE

Case 33 FLU -LIKE ILLNESS AFTER FOREIGN TRAVEL

Section 2- HISTOPATHOLOGY

Case 34 A YOUNG WOMAN WITH ANKLE SWELLING AND SHORTNESS OF BREATH

Case 35 CHEST PAIN AND SUDDEN DEATH

Case 36 AN ELDERLY MAN WITH SEVERE BACK PAIN

Case 37 INCREASED BREATHLESSNESS AND SUDDEN DEATH

Case 38 A WORSENING COUGH AND HAEMOPTYSIS

Case 39 A YOUNG MAN WITH SHORTNESS OF BREATH AND HAEMOPTYSIS

Case 40 SUDDEN ONSET WEAKNESS AND DYSPHASIA

Case 41 NUMBNESS, WEAKNESS AND CLUMSINESS

Case 42 FORGETFULNESS AND DISORIENTATION

Case 43 COFFEE-GROUND VOMITING

Case 44 EPISODIC RIGHT UPPER QUADRANT ABDOMINAL PAIN

Case 45 CHRONIC DIARRHOEA AND FLATULENCE

Case 46 A YOUNG MAN WITH BLOODY DIARRHOEA

Case 47 ABDOMINAL DISCOMFORT AND GENERALISED WEAKNESS

Case 48 ABDOMINAL PAIN IN A PUBLICAN

Case 49 ABDOMINAL DISTENSION, LOSS OF APPETITE AND MALAISE

Case 50 BACK PAIN AND FEVER IN A DIABETIC

Case 51 URINARY PROBLEMS IN AN ELDERLY MAN

Case 52 A YOUNG MAN WITH A TESTICULAR LUMP

Case 53 HEAVY AND PAINFUL MENSTRUAL BLEEDING

Case 54 ABNORXMAL VAGINAL BLEEDING

Case 55 A LUMP IN THE BREAST

Case 56 LYMPH NODE ENLARGEMENT IN A YOUNG MAN

Case 57 AN ITCHY, BLEEDING MOLE ON THE BACK

Case 58 BLOOD IN THE URINE IN AN ELDERLY MAN

Case 59 THYROID DISEASE IN A YOUNG WOMAN

Section 3 – HAEMATOLOGY

Case 60 SHORTNESS OF BREATH AND HEARTBURN

Case 61 RAISED WHITE CELL COUNT IN AN ASYMPTOMATIC INDIVIDUAL

Case 62 WORSENING FATIGUE AND BLEEDING GUMS

Case 63 BURNING URINE AND AN ABNORMAL CLOTTING SCREEN

Case 64 HEADACHES, BLURRED VISION AND ITCHING

Case 65 A PAINFUL ARM AND A LARGE SPLEEN

Case 66 A RASH ON THE THIGHS

Case 67 FATIGUE AND WEIGHT LOSS

Case 68 PNEUMONIA WITH ABNORMAL LIVER FUNCTION

Case 69 RECURRENT EPISTAXIS

Case 70 BRUISING AFTER A PNEUMONIA

Case 71 HEADACHE AND A RASH

Case 72 SHORTNESS OF BREATH AND WEIGHT LOSS

Case 73 ANAEMIA RESISTANT TO A BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Case 74 ASYMPTOMATIC ANAEMIA IN THE ELDERLY

Case 75 BACK PAIN AND FATIGUE

Case 76 SHORT OF BREATH AND UNDERWEIGHT

Case 77 DETERIORATION AFTER A BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Case 78 HEADACHE AND BLURRED VISION

Case 79 LOWER BACK PAIN

Section 4 – MICROBIOLOGY

Case 80 LEG PAIN AND FEVERS

Case 81 FEVER AND COLLAPSE

Case 82 BURNING SENSATION WHEN PASSING URINE

Case 83 A BIT SHORT OF BREATH

Case 84 UNHAPPY CAMPER

Case 85 DIARRHOEA IN AN ELDERLY MAN

Case 86 A PAINFUL KNEE

Case 87 A PAIN IN THE EAR

Case 88 A RED EYE

Case 89 CHILD WITH A RASH

Case 90 PELVIC PAIN

Case 91 A PAINFUL SWOLLEN JAW

Case 92 TRAVELLER’S DIARRHOEA

Case 93 FEVER IN A RETURNING TRAVELLER

Case 94 A SPOT OF CONFUSION

Case 95 CONGENITAL INFECTION

Case 96 A CHRONIC COUGH

Case 97 A JAUNDICED VIEW

Case 98 GRAM NEGATIVE BACTERAEMIA

Case 99 A GROIN SWELLING

Case 100 URETHRAL DISCHARGE