🧠 Seeing the Brain in Action: A Beginner’s Guide to Neuroimaging

You’ve learned to listen to the brain’s electrical activity with EEG — now it’s time to see it. Neuroimaging gives us a window into the brain’s structure, guiding diagnosis, understanding, and treatment. 

But no single scan tells the full story. Each modality sees the brain differently — some reveal anatomy, others show activity — and choosing the right one means knowing what you’re asking, and what the scan can answer. This is just a primer to get you started - imaging is a long journey of learning to come !

Grant success: future AI symposium

 I am very pleased to be part of the cross-institutional team that will be delivering a symposium

"Harnessing AI and technology for equitable and ethical medical education" 

thanks to our successful GEMPASS Professional Development Education Grant. 

Congratulations to the whole grant team - my collaborators from Macquarie University,  Melbourne University, Deakin University and the University of Notre Dame - on our grant success. Looking forward to getting this work underway !!

📦 Want to learn more?

• 📝 All posts about research and data →
• 📝 Identifying ideal applicants for medicine (2022) →
• 📝 Should we extend the currency of cognitive ability testing scores? (2023) →
• 📝 Automated protocol for assessing career rurality outcomes (2023) →
• 📝 Comparing rural and specialty choices of UOW graduates (2023) →
• 📝 Australian health workforce insights (2024) →
• 📝 Medical school admissions processes to target rural applicants (2025) →

🧠 How Do We Listen to the Brain? A Beginner’s Guide to EEG

 Electroencephalography (EEG) is like eavesdropping on a conversation happening in your cerebral cortex. But instead of words, it uses electrical signals—and the patterns those signals make can tell us a lot about how the brain is functioning… or misfiring.

This post will outline the major important features of the EEG and how it can help us to understand the function, and dysfunction, of the brain. 

💊 Neurotransmitters on drugs: How alcohol, medications & other substances affect the CNS

Every action in the brain - whether catching a ball, calming a panic attack, or waking from anaesthesia - starts at the synapse. In physiology, you’ve already met the major neurotransmitters: GABA, glutamate, dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, and noradrenaline.

Now it’s time to see these in clinical action. If you haven't already read it, go back and check out the Neurotransmitters 101 post, it will help it all make sense. 

Many drugs and substances - from prescription medications to recreational drugs - alter the brain’s electrochemical balance. They dial neurotransmitter signalling up or down, leading to effects that are therapeutic, recreational, harmful, or all three. Understanding how they work builds your clinical intuition - and helps you spot mechanisms behind both therapeutic effects and side effects.

 We’ll explore how each class works, what effects they trigger, and where they act in the neural circuit. Consider this your pharmacological map of the CNS - designed for clarity, clinical context, and curiosity.

🧠 Principles of Seizure Management

 Seizures are a common clinical presentation—but behind each episode lies a nuanced web of causes, classifications, and considerations. Effective care begins with pattern recognition, cause exploration, and clinical prioritisation. 

This guide walks through how clinicians approach seizure care—from the first event to long-term planning—by connecting symptoms to anatomy, treatment, and safety.

Clinical Cases in Seizure Localisation

 Recognising seizure types isn't just about memorising lists — it's about observing patterns, interpreting subtle clues, and linking symptoms to functional neuroanatomy. The ability to reason clinically, even from brief descriptions, is one of the most important skills you’ll develop as a future doctor. 

In this post, we’ll walk through a series of realistic case vignettes that should be a challenge for not just first years, but clinical second and third years as well. 

Take your time with each one — some may seem straightforward, others more ambiguous. That’s okay. Clinical reasoning is a skill, not an instinct — and every case you puzzle through builds it.

To Anki or not to Anki: Why flashcards aren’t the whole story in medical education

You’ve probably heard it already today—someone swearing by their Anki deck, proudly announcing they’re “only 600 cards behind.”

Flashcards have become the unofficial religion of medical study.

 🧠 Anki isn’t evil - but it’s also not enough

Anki’s not a villain. But it’s also not a miracle and definitely not a short cut.

And sometimes, it might be the very thing slowing you down.

🌐 Navigating the blog: A guide to getting the most out of it

 Welcome! Whether you’ve stumbled in while revising neuroanatomy or you're deep in a diagnostic reasoning rabbit hole, this blog was designed to help you connect clinical concepts, and spark questions that actually matter. 

It's a scaffolded learning tool designed to provoke thinking, support understanding, and build clinical intuition. Here’s how to dive deeper and make the most of it.

🧠 CONSCIOUSNESS (and how we can lose it)

 Consciousness might seem like something “obvious”—you know when you’re awake, alert, and aware. But understanding what consciousness is (from a medical perspective), and why it can be disrupted, is fundamental to learning clinical neurology and emergency medicine. Let’s build the foundation.

🧠 NEUROTRANSMITTERS 101: The Basics of Neurotransmission

 Ready to dive into the fascinating world of neurotransmitters? These tiny molecules are the chemical messengers that keep your nervous system humming—coordinating thoughts, movements, moods, and memories.

 Let’s explore how these molecules work and why they’re clinically meaningful. 🩺

Localisation of seizures 🧠

 When someone has a seizure, the symptoms can tell us more than just what happened — they give clues about where in the brain it happened. Seizure localisation is the art and science of mapping signs and behaviours to specific cortical regions. From staring spells to sudden muscle jerks, each presentation points to a unique neural epicentre. 

Understanding where seizures begin helps us decode the circuitry behind them, guides diagnosis, and even shapes treatment decisions. Let’s explore how brain geography becomes clinical insight.

Understanding Seizure Classification 🧠

Hey future doctors! 👋 Let's dive into the fascinating world of seizure classification. 🩺✨

Seizures reflect abnormal electrical activity in the brain, but they don't all look alike. Some involve convulsions, others just subtle lapses in awareness. Classification matters—not just for tidy documentation, but for tailoring treatment and understanding prognosis.

🔬 Pathophysiology of Seizures: What’s Going Wrong?

 Seizures are caused by abnormal, excessive, synchronous electrical activity in groups of neurons. Seizures are like a power surge in the brain. Instead of orderly, purposeful neural signals, you get a storm of chaotic, excessive firing across neuron groups. 

This hyperactivity disrupts normal function — from movement and sensation to awareness and behaviour.

🧠 From Cortex to Brainstem: Mapping the Machinery of Thought and Function

 The central nervous system (CNS) isn’t just a bundle of grey and white matter—it’s the command centre for sensation, movement, cognition, and survival. Understanding its architecture sets the stage for recognising how neurological damage unfolds in real patients.

Let’s take a tour through the cortex, subcortex, and brainstem—with just enough anatomical and functional depth to make it stick.

Friday's Big Fat Kidney Quiz

 

This 35 question renal quiz is designed for medical students and covers key concepts in kidney structure, function, and pathophysiology. As always, you can answer anonymously, with immediate feedback, and can try again as often as you like.

🩺 When the Filters Fail: A review of reduced renal function

Your kidneys filter over 180 litres of blood a day, removing waste, balancing electrolytes, and regulating blood pressure. But what happens when renal function starts to decline?

👩‍⚕️ Meet Karen, a 54-year-old woman with Type 2 Diabetes and longstanding hypertension. She’s noticed some ankle swelling, increasing fatigue, and mild nausea. Her GP runs bloods— her eGFR is 38 mL/min/1.73m², her creatinine is up, and there’s proteinuria.

Beneath those swelling ankles lies a story of pressure, filtration failure, and systemic fallout. This is where physiology meets clinical reality, and small changes start to snowball.

🧠 Interpreting Renal Function Tests:

Renal function tests aren’t just numbers — they’re clues. When interpreted thoughtfully, they can help us distinguish between dehydration, intrinsic renal disease, and post-renal obstruction.  In this post, you’ll meet patients like Tom, who presents with dehydration and rising creatinine; Aisha, whose frothy urine holds a glomerular secret; and Leo, whose “normal” labs conceal a chronic decline — all to help you decode renal results with clinical confidence. 

We’ll explore how to interpret renal function tests and urinalysis through a clinical reasoning lens — breaking down key blood and urine markers, comparing patterns across different types of kidney injury, and working through real-world cases to bring the concepts to life.

Understanding Glomerulonephritis: ( Part 2- Clinical Patterns and Cases)

Glomerulonephritis (GN) can be a quiet intruder or a dramatic disruptor. It may first present as an incidental finding on urinalysis — microscopic haematuria or mild proteinuria — or arrive with oedema, dark-coloured urine, rising blood pressure, or even renal failure. For clinicians, GN is a diagnostic challenge and a physiologic puzzle. What unites its many forms is a common battleground: the glomerulus. In this post, we explore how glomerular injury arises, how it disturbs the kidney’s delicate filtration barrier, and how two classic clinical patterns — nephritic and nephrotic syndromes — help us make sense of the chaos.

In this post, we’ll walk through what glomerulonephritis is, how it disrupts the kidney’s filtration barrier, and why understanding its immune mechanisms matters for recognising—and reasoning through—renal disease.

Understanding Glomerulonephritis: (Part 1 – Pathophysiology and mechanisms)

 The kidney is not merely a blood-cleaning organ — it’s a precisely engineered filtration system, packed into a space smaller than your fist. At the heart of this system lies the glomerulus, a tight ball of capillaries ensconced within Bowman’s capsule, where blood meets filter.

When this filter becomes inflamed — a condition called glomerulonephritis (GN) — its normally selective barrier becomes leaky, irritable, and dysfunctional. Blood cells and proteins that should stay in the bloodstream escape into the urine. Waste products that should be cleared begin to build up.

 

In this post, we’ll explore what glomerulonephritis actually is, how it disrupts the kidney’s filtration barrier, and why understanding its immune mechanisms matters — especially before diving into clinical patterns.

🧭 Coming Up after this in Part 2, we’ll explore how these injuries translate into clinical syndromes — particularly the classic nephritic vs nephrotic divide — and walk through real-world cases to bring the concepts to life.

QUIZ : Urinary tract infections

A 12-question quiz on urinary tract infections and pyelonephritis, focusing on microbiology, pathophysiology, antibiotic choice, and host defences.

🦠 Common Renal Infections: Pathophysiology Meets Practice

 Infections in the renal system are among the most common reasons patients present to GPs and emergency departments — yet their underlying mechanisms are often oversimplified. These aren't just “bladder bugs” causing discomfort: they are dynamic, evolving conditions that reflect an interplay between microbial virulence, host defence, and anatomical vulnerabilities.

From the relatively straightforward presentation of cystitis to the more serious implications of pyelonephritis, renal infections provide a perfect lens through which to explore the clinical relevance of physiology and pathophysiology. How does a bacterium from the gut end up damaging a kidney? What determines whether a simple UTI becomes a systemic illness? And how do we decide when antibiotics, imaging, or hospital admission are truly necessary?

In this post, we’ll explore how renal infections arise, what differentiates upper from lower tract involvement, and how pathophysiological principles guide investigation and treatment decisions.

QUIZ : Renal physiology and blood pressure regulation

A 10-question quiz on renal physiology and blood pressure regulation, focusing on RAAS, nephron function, sympathetic tone, and antihypertensive drug mechanisms.

 

The Kidney and Blood Pressure Control

 The kidneys are best known for filtering waste and producing urine — but they are also key regulators of long-term blood pressure. Far from passive filters, they act as fluid managers and hormonal sensors, constantly monitoring blood flow, volume, and salt levels, then adjusting the body's internal settings to stabilise the circulation.

The cardiovascular system doesn’t operate in isolation — it relies on input from other organs, and the kidneys are among the most influential. Through a combination of neural and hormonal feedback, they help maintain vascular tone and circulating volume. This role becomes especially apparent in chronic conditions such as hypertension and chronic kidney disease, where blood pressure control and renal function often deteriorate together.

Many commonly used antihypertensives — including diuretics, ACE inhibitors, and angiotensin receptor blockers — work by targeting renal processes or the hormones the kidney influences. Understanding how the kidneys detect and respond to systemic signals forms the foundation not only for renal physiology, but for clinical reasoning in cardiovascular disease and pharmacological management.

In this post, we’ll explore how the kidneys sense and respond to changes in blood pressure — and how this underpins both disease processes like hypertension and the mechanism of action for many antihypertensive drugs.

 

Revision MEGA QUIZ

First-Year Medical Mega Quiz: Physiology, Pathophysiology, and Pharmacology

Test your understanding of core medical concepts across systems! This 40-question quiz is packed with clinical vignettes and applied physiology from topics like asthma, digestion, gas exchange, renal handling, antibiotics, ECGs, liver disease, pharmacology and more. Can you get through the full set?

QUIZ: Kidney structure and function

Test your understanding of nephron structure and kidney physiology with these five quiz questions.

Welcome to the Kidney: Structure and Function Explained

🩺 What the Kidneys Might Be Telling Us

A 56-year-old woman visits her GP with two common but vague symptoms: fatigue and ankle swelling. Her vitals and labs show:

• Blood pressure: 152/88 mmHg 
• Creatinine: 145 µmol/L
• eGFR: 42 mL/min/1.73m²
• Haemoglobin: Mild normocytic anaemia
• Urine dipstick: 1+ protein, no blood

As a GP, I'd be asking: are these early signs of chronic kidney disease (CKD), or part of a broader hypertensive picture? These results might seem only mildly abnormal, but even “moderate” kidney dysfunction can signal serious shifts in physiology. So—what’s failing? And why do those failures affect more than just the urine?

This post walks through how each part of the nephron contributes to health, and what happens when that function begins to slip.

QUIZ : Alcohol-related liver disease and Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver disease

A 5-question quiz exploring the pathophysiology of alcohol-related and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (ARLD vs NAFLD). Read each clinical scenario and choose the best explanation.

Steatosis to Cirrhosis: Exploring the Mechanisms Behind ARLD and NAFLD

In this post, we explore the similarities and differences between alcohol-related liver disease (ARLD) and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)—two of the most common causes of liver dysfunction worldwide. 

Both progress through similar pathological stages but have distinct triggers, mechanisms, and associated conditions. Let’s dive into how each affects liver structure and function.

QUIZ: Interpreting Hepatitis B Serology

 

🧪 Quiz: Interpreting Hepatitis B Serology

Test your understanding of Hepatitis B serology with these five clinical scenarios. Can you apply serological markers to real-world cases?

Viral hepatitis Part 3: Making Sense of Hepatitis B Serology 🧬

Hepatitis B serology can feel like a maze of antigens, antibodies, and confusing lab results, but each marker tells a distinct story about the virus’s interaction with the immune system. Instead of memorizing isolated test results, understanding HBV’s pathophysiology makes interpretation logical, predictive, and clinically useful. 

This post breaks down the HBV lifecycle, key serological markers, and infection phases—helping clinicians differentiate acute, chronic, resolved, and vaccinated states with confidence. This guide will transform HBV serology from memorization into true understanding.

Research update: Medical school admission processes to target rural applicants

 I'm very pleased to share our latest publication in BMC Medical Education: "Medical school admission processes to target rural applicants: an international scoping review and mapping of Australian practices."

https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-025-07234-3 

Alongside esteemed colleagues from Deakin University, Charles Sturt University, University of Queensland, University of Melbourne, University of Adelaide, Western Sydney University, and the University of South Australia, we explored how Australian medical schools select rural applicants.

Our findings reinforce the importance of recruiting rural-origin students to address workforce shortages, revealing significant variations in how academic performance metrics and standardised tests are weighted across institutions. While many medical schools adapt entry criteria for rural candidates, greater consistency and evidence-based approaches could improve fairness and long-term healthcare sustainability.

This research aligns with international studies supporting tailored admission processes to strengthen rural health outcomes. We advocate for modified pathways that ensure equitable access to medical education and a stronger rural medical workforce.

📦 Want to learn more?

• 📝 All posts about research and data →
• 📝 Identifying ideal applicants for medicine (2022) →
• 📝 Should we extend the currency of cognitive ability testing scores? (2023) →
• 📝 Automated protocol for assessing career rurality outcomes (2023) →
• 📝 Comparing rural and specialty choices of UOW graduates (2023) →
• 📝 Australian health workforce insights (2024) →
• 📝 Medical school admissions processes to target rural applicants (2025) →

QUIZ: Chronic Viral hepatitis and hepatocellular carcinoma

🧠 Quiz: Chronic Hepatitis, Cirrhosis, and HCC

Test your knowledge of chronic viral hepatitis, liver fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma using these best-of-five questions designed to reinforce key clinical and pathophysiological concepts.

Viral hepatitis Part 2: from Chronic Hepatitis to Cirrhosis and Liver Cancer 🧬

 While many patients recover completely from an episode of acute hepatitis, certain hepatitis viruses—especially Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV)—fail to be cleared from the body. This persistence triggers a continuous inflammatory cascade in the liver, laying the groundwork for progressive scarring and, eventually, the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). 

In this post, we will explore:

• What defines chronic hepatitis
• How and why the liver progresses from inflammation to fibrosis, cirrhosis, and cancer
• The clinical features of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis
• Risk factors, surveillance, and management strategies

QUIZ: Acute viral hepatitis

🧪 Quiz: Acute Viral Hepatitis

These Best-of-Five questions will test your understanding of the pathophysiology, transmission, and laboratory features of acute viral hepatitis. Ready to apply what you've learned? Like all the quizzes, you can have a try and check your answers anonymously, then reset the quiz to try again later !

Viral hepatitis Part 1: Understanding the Acute Inflammatory Liver Response 🦠

 Acute viral hepatitis refers to sudden-onset liver inflammation caused by one of the hepatitis viruses — most commonly Hepatitis A, B, C, D, or E. Each virus has distinct routes of transmission, clinical behaviour, and implications for public health — but they share overlapping patterns of hepatic injury.

In this post, we will explore:

• The pathophysiology of acute hepatitis
• Key clinical features
• Differences between the hepatitis viruses
• Diagnostic approach and natural history

There will be further posts to follow this regarding chronic hepatitis and on interpreting Hepatitis B serology - watch this space!

QUIZ: Signs of liver dysfunction

🩺 Quiz: Signs of liver dysfunction

 

Test your understanding of liver function and its role in metabolism, clotting, bilirubin clearance, and neurological complications. Choose the best answer for each case, then check your score and explanations.

Signs of Liver Dysfunction: Linking Pathophysiology to Clinical Signs 🚨

The liver is essential for metabolism, synthesis, detoxification, immune regulation, and storage. When liver function fails, distinct signs emerge—often across multiple systems.

This guide explains why these signs occur and how they relate to underlying liver dysfunction. Rather than trying to memorise a list of signs - it is always better to think pathophysiologically from first principles- then you will know HOW and WHY things happen as they do.

Let's start by linking liver function and DYSfunction. When you know what the liver does normally (see the Structure and function blog post if you haven't yet) you can work out what will happen if it fails. 

QUIZ: Structure and function of the liver

 

This five-question quiz helps medical students review key concepts in liver structure, dual blood supply, bile flow, and complications of liver dysfunction such as jaundice, coagulopathy, and encephalopathy.

Welcome to the Liver

 Structure, Function, and Clinical Relevance

The liver is a multitasking marvel. Few organs work harder than the liver. Whether it’s keeping blood clotting smoothly, neutralising toxins, or managing energy reserves, its failure can lead to striking clinical signs—some subtle, others life-threatening.  Weighing just under 1.5 kg, it constitutes about 2% of an adult’s body weight but contributes to hundreds of critical biochemical processes. It is your metabolic hub, your detox centre, your protein factory, and your immune gatekeeper — all in one. Despite its resilience, even minor dysfunction can throw multiple systems off balance—making liver disease a key challenge in medicine.

Understanding its structure and function will help explain why liver dysfunction produces such distinct clinical signs.

QUIZ: Gastrointestinal bleeding

 

🩸 GI Bleeding Quiz: Upper vs Lower

This quiz is designed for medical students to test their understanding of gastrointestinal bleeding. Each case-based question reinforces key clinical features, bleeding sources, and early investigations, with a focus on anatomy and pathophysiology.

🩸 Understanding Upper vs Lower GI Bleeding: Pathophysiology & Clinical Clues

Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding is a common and potentially serious problem in medicine. Some cases involve chronic, slow blood loss, leading to anaemia, while others can result in massive haemorrhage, requiring urgent intervention.

To effectively manage GI bleeding, doctors need to identify the source, which falls into two broad categories:

• Upper GI Bleeding (UGIB): 

• The bleeding comes from areas above the ligament of Treitz, meaning it starts in the oesophagus, stomach, or first part of the small intestine (duodenum).

• Lower GI Bleeding (LGIB): 

• The bleeding originates from below the ligament of Treitz, meaning it occurs in the jejunum, ileum, colon, or rectum.

Recognising whether the bleeding is from the upper or lower part of the digestive tract is critical for choosing the right treatment.

QUIZ: Lymphoma

 

🧠 Lymphoma Quiz: Pathophysiology and Clinical Features

This quiz is designed to help medical students consolidate their knowledge of lymphoma subtypes, clinical presentations, and diagnostic clues. Test your understanding of Hodgkin and non-Hodgkin lymphomas through five case-based questions.

Understanding Lymphoma 🧬

 Lymphoma is a malignancy of lymphoid tissue, encompassing a diverse group of blood cancers originating in B cells, T cells, or (rarely) natural killer (NK) cells. Though primarily arising within lymph nodes, lymphomas can also involve the spleen, liver, bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract, or skin.

QUIZ: Acute and chronic leukaemia

🧬 Leukaemia Quiz: Pathophysiology and Clinical Patterns

Test your understanding of leukaemia subtypes, diagnostic markers, and disease progression. This quiz features five case-based questions focused on acute and chronic leukaemias, suitable for second-year medical students learning about haematological malignancy.

Acute and Chronic Leukaemias – A Clinical and Pathophysiological Guide 🩸

 Leukaemia refers to a group of blood cancers arising from abnormal proliferation of white blood cell precursors. The problem begins in the bone marrow, where mutations in haematopoietic stem or progenitor cells allow one clone to escape normal checks on growth and differentiation.

While the term leukaemia may sound singular, it actually encompasses a group of distinct diseases, each with its own biological behaviour, clinical features, and management principles. Chronic and acute leukemias are completely different diseases, and they progress at different speeds.

Over time — sometimes over days, sometimes years — these abnormal cells crowd out normal blood production, leading to anaemia, immunosuppression, and bleeding. Clinical presentations vary depending on which blood line is affected and how fast the disease progresses.

QUIZ : Case based assessment of anaemia

Clinical Scenarios: Anaemia Case Quiz

Apply your understanding of MCV classification, pathophysiology, and lab interpretation to answer these anaemia questions. Choose the best answer for each case, then check your score and review the explanations.

Understanding Anaemia: Types, Causes, and Pathophysiology

Anaemia is one of the most frequently encountered clinical problems, yet its underlying mechanisms are diverse. Defined as a reduction in haemoglobin concentration, red blood cell (RBC) count, or haematocrit below normal for age and sex, anaemia reflects a failure of oxygen delivery rather than a singular disease.

QUIZ - Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD)

 

Please select the most appropriate option for each question. Once you submit your choices, the correct answers will be revealed to you. You can attempt the quiz as many times as you'd like.

Understanding the Pathophysiology of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)

 Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC)—two chronic, immune-mediated disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. While their clinical presentations may overlap, their underlying mechanisms, immune responses, and structural involvement differ significantly.

The Lower Gastrointestinal Tract: Structure & Function in Nutrient Absorption

 The lower gastrointestinal (GIT) tract plays a critical role in nutrient absorption, fluid balance, and waste excretion. It includes the small intestine (jejunum, ileum), large intestine (colon), rectum, and anus—each with unique structural and functional adaptations that optimise digestion and absorption.

Let’s explore the detailed mechanisms at work throughout this system.

QUIZ - Antiphospholipid syndrome

Please select the most appropriate option for each question. Once you submit your choices, the correct answers will be revealed to you. You can attempt the quiz as many times as you'd like.

Antiphospholipid syndrome: A prothrombotic puzzle

Pathophysiology of antiphospholipid syndrome

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disorder characterised by the presence of antiphospholipid antibodies (aPL), which target phospholipid-binding proteins involved in coagulation. These antibodies disrupt normal endothelial function, leading to hypercoagulability and an increased risk of thrombosis.

APS pathophysiology involves multiple mechanisms:

QUIZ - Systemic lupus erythematosus

A 28-year-old woman presents with fatigue, weight loss, photosensitivity, and joint pain. She reports a previous episode of pleuritic chest pain and oral ulcers. Examination reveals a malar rash, mild peripheral oedema, and tenderness in multiple small joints. Laboratory investigations show proteinuria (2.5g/day), haematuria, low complement levels, and strongly positive Anti-nuclear antibodies and anti-dsDNA antibodies.

Please select the most appropriate option for each question. Once you submit your choices, the correct answers will be revealed to you. You can attempt the quiz as many times as you'd like.

Understanding the pathophysiology of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

 Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterised by multisystem involvement and a complex interplay of genetic, environmental, and immunological factors. It primarily affects young women and can manifest with diverse clinical symptoms, ranging from mild cutaneous involvement to life-threatening organ damage. Understanding its pathophysiology is crucial for developing targeted therapies and improving patient outcomes.