AAPA Practice Qs 2026

bulla

A large vesicle or blister (<5mm). This term is often used to describe thin-walled balloon-like extensions or air sacs.

atelectatic

A collapse of lung tissue affecting part or all of the lung.

botryoid

This term is used to describe numerous rounded protuberances and tissue that resemble “a bunch of grapes”.

coalesced

This term refers to a lesion with two or more areas adherent or attached to each other due to a pathologic process.

caseous

A necrotic lesion or area of interest that is cottage-cheese like in appearance.

degeneration

________ is a term used to describe solid, uninvolved tissue with central or peripheral necrosis.

diverticulum

An outpouching of a hollow (or fluid-filled) structure.

everted

An area or lesion on a specimen that protrudes outward compared to the rest of the specimen is considered _______.

exudate

An opaque, soft, light-tan, or gray-tan material that is adherent to the surface of a specimen.

fenestrated

A lesion or area of interest that has window-like openings can be described as ______.

filiform

________ is a term used to describe a lesion or area of interest that forms or resembles a thread or filament.

flecked

A specimen can be described as _______ when it has small markings, streaks or speckles, usually on serosal or mucosal surfaces.

hemorrhagic

Excessive aggregates of blood as a result of profuse bleeding.

heterogenous

Tissue or specimens that consist of dissimilar elements or parts are known as ______.

incised

A clean cut, as with a surgical knife is described as _____.

loculated

Multiple small cavities contained within a larger structure.

mottled

Tissue with spots or blotches of different shades or colors is described as _____.

multiparous

A slit-like opening in the cervical os.

peau d’orange

In a breast cancer mastectomy specimen, a swollen, dimpled, and pitted skin surface resembling the surface of an orange.

petechia

Small (<3mm in diameter) purplish spots on a body surface, such as the skin or a mucous membrane.

puckered

A focal area that exhibits a wrinkle, crease, or irregular fold.

serpiginous

A lesion or area of interest with a wavy or snakelike border.

stellate

A lesion or area of interest that is star-shaped.

transparent

A substance, lesion, or structure that can be seen through.

whorled

A lesion or area of interest with tissue that is curled or wound in concentric rings or spirals.

none of the above

When the coroner considers a post-mortem examination necessary due to circumstances surrounding a death, who is allowed to overrule this decision?

pneumothorax

By removing the plunger of a 50 mL syringe and filling it with water, the presence of _________ can be determined by sticking the syringe into the thoracic cavity and observing any bubbles before any incisions are made.

scheduling examinations in the afternoon after the staff has had lunch

All of the following are important considerations that should govern the post-mortem examination except:

anterior neck structures

If there is suspected compression injury to the neck, what structures should be carefully dissected out?

Letulle - en masse

Which of the following evisceration techniques is paired with the correct method of organ removal?

systemic sepsis of unknown origin

One possible for examination of the middle ear could be:

Cajal

The _____ method focuses on posterior block dissection, where the retroperitoneal vessels are dissected first, followed by the adrenal glands and then the urogenital tract.

esophagus

Which organ system is not included in the celiac block of an en block resection?

75

Significant or severe atherosclerosis is classified by coronary vessel occlusion or at least ___%.

stenosis

A significant decrease in valve circumference is suggestive of what?

formalin vapor

The ________ method for inflating a lung involves plugging the main bronchus with a rubber stopper, piercing the stopper with a needle and filling the lung with pressurized formalin.

diatoms

This unicellular microscopic form of algae can be useful in testing for drowning by sampling the suspected drowning site and comparing it to those found in the body.

Perl’s Prussian blue

This stain is useful for documenting cases of hemochromatosis.

bath the relevant tissue in concentrated copper acetate in an incubator for 24 hours

In order to demonstrate fat necrosis, such as that seen in pancreatic inflammatory disease, one can _______________.

outflow obstruction

Detrusor muscle hypertrophy and trabeculation is possible evidence of what?

Thromboembolic disease

The most common cause of direct maternal death is?

thyroiditis

Which of the following is not a possible cause of enlargement of the thyroid gland?

systemic steroid therapy

A significant reduction in the weight of an adrenal gland is usually a consequence of what?

155 to 195 g

The normal weight range of a spleen is:

osteoporosis

All of the following are reasons to examine the bone marrow during an autopsy, except:

osteoporosis

Following evisceration, a portion of rib can be placed between the finger and thumb and them compressed until it fractures in order to test for ________.

needle-shaped

When assessing for the presence of gout in a joint, the microscopic shape of the urate crystals will be:

old cerebral infarcts

Any asymmetry or brain shift can be an indications of any of the following, except:

epilepsy

Taking sections of the hippocampus can be useful for the diagnosis of which of the following conditions?

sepsis

Which analysis would not be proper use of fine needle aspiration?

Alizarin red S

This stain can be used to determine the presence of calcium deposits in a slice of tissue.

intrauterine infection

Examination of the eye during a fetal autopsy may be necessary due to:

12 weeks

Differentiated external genitalia occurs at what gestational age milestone?

specificity

_______ refers to the ability of a test to identify correctly those individuals who do NOT have the disease.

all of the above

Which of the following symptoms indicate anaphylaxis?

capillary puncture

_______ is preferred for a peripheral blood smear.

CBC

The _____ consists of a series of tests that determine number, variety, percentage, concentrations and quality of blood cells.

neutrophils

The most numerous and important type of leukocytes in the body’s reaction to inflammation, which constitute a primary defense against microbial invasion through the process of phagocytosis:

polycythemia

The term used to describe an abnormal increase in the number of RBCs.

Target cells (codocytes)

These cells have a dark center and periphery and a clear ring in between.

vitamin B12

_______ is necessary for the production of RBCs and is obtained only from the ingestion of animal protein.

insulin

This hormone is produced by pancreatic beta cells of the islets of Langerhans, and regulates carbohydrate metabolism together with contributions from the liver adipose tissue, and other target cells.

lead

______ poisoning causes these toxic effect: anorexia, apathy, fatigue, and anemia.

beta HCG

The increased sensitivity of the ______ test detects pregnancy as early as 6 to 10 days after implantation of the oocyte.

false

Prostate specific antigen is considered an ideal tumor marker due to its sensitivity and specificity (T/F).

cardiac troponin

_______ is used in the diagnosis of myocardial infarcts because levels remain elevated for 5-7 days after the injury.

HDL

Elevated ____ levels protect against atherosclerosis by removing cholesterol from vessel walls and transporting it to the liver where it is removed from the body.

nose hairs

Which of the following host defenses is an anatomic barrier?

salmonella and listeria

60% of deaths from food-borne pathogens are accounted for by ______ and ______.

bacteria

When meningitis is caused by ______, CSF has increased numbers of leukocytes and purulence.

H. pylori

This organism is present in 95-98% of patients with duodenal ulcers and about 60-90% of patients with gastric ulcers.

Epstein-Barr virus

The most common symptomatic manifestation of _____ infection is a disease known as infectious mononucleosis.

BRCA-1

This genetic marker is found in hereditary predisposition to developing breast and ovarian cancer.

O

This major blood group designation is considered the universal donor for RBCs:

Bone imaging

This type of imaging is used to primarily to evaluate suspected metastatic breast cancer, prostate caner, lung cancer, and lymphoma:

upper outer quadrant

Half of all breast cancers develop in the:

sickle cell anemia

In autosomal recessive diseases such as _____, both copies of the gene pair must not function correctly for a problem to be apparent.

sodium

The primary function of ______ is to maintain osmotic pressure and acid-base balance chemically and to transmit nerve impulses.

magnetic resonance

_______ is a diagnostic modality that employs a superconducting magnet and radio frequency signals to cause hydrogen nuclei to emit their own signal without ionizing radiation.

cause of death

The disease or injury that, through its physiologic effects, results in the actual death of the individual.

Rokitansky

Evisceration in pediatric autopsies is best achieved by the ________ technique.

2 weeks

Once intrauterine fetal death occurs, mummification will occur after ________ of retention.

32

Approximately _____% of ova exposed to sperm in women of proven fertility survive to be born alive.

yeast infection

When examining the umbilical cord color, yellow plaque-like discoloration may be evidence of:

2/3

The crown-rump length is usually _____ that of the crown-heel length.

bone dysplasia

When performing a fetal autopsy, some diagnoses cannot be made without X-ray examination. This applies particularly to ______.

64

Placenta causes of death have been found in up to _____% of intrauterine fetal deaths.

none

Extensive calcification of the placenta seen at term has a strong correlation with what disorder of gestation?

all of the above

Deficiencies of Wharton’s jelly in the umbilical cord is associated with:

both hypercoiling and hypocoiling of the umbilical cord

Increased perinatal mortality, intrauterine growth restriction, and fetal distress are associated with:

velamentous

This type of umbilical cord insertion has vessels unprotected by Wharton’s jelly and are therefore prone to both inadvertent rupture and fetal compression.

percreta

In placenta ______, the villi penetrate through the entire thickness of the uterine wall.

Twin-twin transfusion syndrome

Excessive anastomoses of vessels in twin placentas can lead to ________, resulting in marked inequality but otherwise normal proportions in the size of the twins.

XX

Most moles have a 46 ___ karyotype resulting either from dispermy or from duplication of haploid sperm in an anuclear ovum.

deletion

The chromosomal defect in which pieces of the chromosome are missing in persons having 46 chromosomes

Fragile X syndrome

The most frequent mental retardation syndrome, caused by a mutant gene and is more frequent in males is known as:

dysplasia

_____ is an abnormal organization of cells into tissue and the morphologic results or the process of dyshistogenesis.

polyadactly and