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Retired NBME 20 Answers

nbme20/Block 1/Question#21 (reveal difficulty score)
A 75-year-old woman comes to the physician ...
Multinucleated giant cells and neutrophil infiltrates ๐Ÿ” / ๐Ÿ“บ / ๐ŸŒณ / ๐Ÿ“–
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 +8  upvote downvote
submitted by โˆ—hayayah(1212)
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This is an example of Shingles. Herpes simplex and herpes zoster viruses cause abnormal cell division in epidermal cells, and this creates multinucleated giant cells.

A Tzank smear showing multinucleated giant cells is characteristic of Varicella Zoster Virus infections. (HSV will have similar findings).

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ergogenic22  other identifying terms for herpes: Single dermatome (does not cross the midline), painful (burning and itching),and lesions in multiple stages. +3
redvelvet  and why neutrophile infiltration, is it a thing? or just a distracting thing? +2
charcot_bouchard  Neutrophil comes into party always first. but it was distracting for me too. +7
dulxy071  Regardless if it can help resolve the issue, neutrophil will always be the first responder +3



 +2  upvote downvote
submitted by โˆ—victor_abdullatif(10)
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Branching fungal hyphae without yeast forms = probably Sporotrichosis / Sporothrix schenckii

Diffuse separation of dermis and epidermis = Stevens-johnson / TEN

Granular depositis of IgA at the tips of dermal papillae = dermatitis herpetiformis

Immunofluorescent staining for C3 along the epidermal basement membrane = bullous pemphigoid

Nonbranching fungal hyphae with abundant yeast forms = ? (maybe tinea?)

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 +0  upvote downvote
submitted by andremosq(9)
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HSV identification FA20. 166 Tzanck smear - Multinucleated giant cel, but PCR is the test of choice. Picture here https://healthjade.net/tzanck-test/

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