Listed below are questions based on articles that appeared in last month's print edition of the Archives. Registered continuing medical education participants should use the February 2007 answer sheet to answer these questions.

  • 1. For the 34 specimens in which diagnostic accuracy was improved with deeper levels, new histologic findings were apparent on slide 2 in 25 biopsies, and slide 3 was only required in 9 biopsies.

    True or False?

    (from Prospective Step Sections for Small Skin Biopsies—Bruecks et al)

  • 2. When discussing microscopic features of third trimester placental mesenchymal dysplasia placentas, which of the following statements is false?

    • a. they have dilated, thick-walled, chorionic plate vessels with fibromuscular hyperplasia

    • b. they may have fresh or organizing thrombi with varying degrees of luminal obliteration

    • c. thrombosis may be present in the veins of the chorionic plate, but it has not been found in the arteries

    • d. the vessel walls may contain fibrinoid necrosis

    • e. the parenchymal vascular malformations show dilated vessels and may have fresh or organizing thrombosis

      (from Placental Mesenchymal Dysplasia—Parveen et al)

  • 3. DNA copy gain and loss appear to occur in all cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma when tumors are examined using a combination of laser capture microdissection and sensitive array–based comparative genomic hybridization.

    True or False?

    (from Low-Level Genomic Instability Is a Feature of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma—Finn et al)

  • 4. Among the results of a study that sought to determine flow cytometric detection of ZAP-70 protein level in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which is false?

    • a. all 23 cases scored 0 by immunocytochemistry were ≤25% ZAP-70–positive cells by flow cytometry (FC)

    • b. all 16 cases scored 1 or 2 by immunocytochemistry were >25% ZAP-70–positive cells by FC

    • c. all 3 cases scored as 0 or 1 by Western blot analysis had ≤25% ZAP-70–positive cells by FC and had a score of 0 by immunocytochemistry

    • d. all 4 cases scored as 2 by Western blot analysis had >25% ZAP-70–positive cells by FC and had a score of 1 or 2 by immunocytochemistry

    • e. most of the 45 cases examined by FC had a percentage of ZAP-70–positive cells falling into the ≤25% or >35% categories

      (from Flow Cytometric Detection of ZAP-70 in Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia—Slack et al)

  • 5. After corrections for multiple comparisons, the expression of p21, fatty acid synthase, and cleaved caspase 3 was significantly different between atypical and benign granular cell tumors.

    True or False?

    (from Phosphorylated Histone H3, Ki-67, p21, Fatty Acid Synthase, and Cleaved Caspase-3 Expression in Benign and Atypical Granular Cell Tumors—Kapur et al)

  • 6. Which of the following results from the analysis of 22 renal oncocytomas by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) or conventional cytogenetics is false?

    • a. deletion of 1p36.3 was observed in 6 tumors (FISH)

    • b. both signals for 1p36.3 and 1q25 were seen in 8 tumors (FISH)

    • c. 8 bilateral tumors showed deletion of 1 signal each of 1p36.3 and 1q25 (FISH)

    • d. 3 signals for 1p36.3/1q25 were observed in 1 tumor (FISH)

    • e. abnormality of chromosome 1 was seen in 7 tumors (conventional cytogenetics)

      (from High Incidence of Chromosome 1 Abnormalities in a Series of 27 Renal Oncocytomas—Paner et al)