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.

Table of Contents:
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