USMLE Step 1

USMLE Step 1 Question of the Day!

A 38 year-old woman presents to the emergency room after a car accident. She said she was driving down the road when all of a sudden she started having a seizure and could not control herself. She has been complaining of headaches and some memory troubles as of late. After a full workup, Doctors tell her she has a terrible brain tumor. CT scan shows that the tumor crosses over the corpus callosum. What primary brain tumor does she have?

A) Glioblastoma multiforme
B) Meningioma
C) Pituitary Adenoma
D) Medulloblastoma
E) Craniopharyngioma

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Answer: A) Glioblastoma multiforme or Grade IV astrocytoma. It is the most common primary brain tumor in adults. It carries with it a less than one year prognosis time. It is found in the cerebral hemispheres and often crosses the corpus callosum where it gets the nickname of “butterfly glioma.” On biopsy of the tumor, pseudopalisading tumor cells border central areas of necrosis and hemorrhage.


USMLE Step 1 D.O.C. of the Day!

Drug of choice for

Streptococcus viridans causing endocarditis

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Penicillin + aminoglycoside


USMLE Step 1 Fact of the Day!

Infectious agents causing tumors part I:
Aspergillus- Hepatocellular carcinoma
Epstein Barr Virus- Burkitt’s lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Hepatitis B Virus- Hepatocellular carcinoma
Helicobacter pylori- gastric adenocarcinoma, gastric lymphoma