Neuropathology Maintenance of Certification Topics

For those taking the maintenance of certification (MOC) examination at some point in the next few years, the American Board of Pathology (ABP) has published topics that may be covered in the examination. The examination consists of 150 multiple-choice questions, 50 of which are required to be in the a category designated "general neuropathology I". The remaining 100 questions can be from various categories which the examinee chooses (general neuropathology II, degenerative I & II, developmental/pediatric/congenital I & II, neoplastic I & II, and neuromuscular I & II). The ABP provides an MOC examination study guide to help examinees prepare for the exam. The following list is copied from the study guide and includes possible topics in the mandatory general neuropathology 50-question module:

 abnormal corticospinal tracts/pyramids
 leptomeningeal opacifications
 acute hemorrhagic leukoencephalopathy
 leukodystrophies
 anaplastic astrocytoma
 motor cortex; smear prep
 aquaporin-4
 multicystic encephalopathy
 astrocytomas; chemotherapeutic resistance
 multiple system atrophy
 axonal injury; IHC
 myxopapillary ependymoma
 borderzone hypoxic-ischemic damage
 orbital plate fractures
 cervical spinal cord tracts
 Pick disease
 CNS cysts
 pituitary gland histology
 CNS neoplasms; loss of heterozygosity
 postmortem artifacts
 CSF; metastatic tumors
 primary angiitis of the CNS
 deep (basal) nuclei; tracts
 ragged red fibers
 dermatomyositis
 retinal hemorrhage
 dysembryoplastic neuroepithelial tumor
 retinoblastoma
 fetal developmental; neuroanatomy
 skeletal muscle ultrastructure
 fibrillary astrocytoma
 spinal cord anatomy
 glioblastoma
 status marmoratus
 GM1 and GM2 gangliosidoses
 Steele-Richardson-Olszewski syndrome
 hereditary sensory-motor neuropathies
 substantia nigra
 Huntington disease
 tauopathies
 hypoxic injury
 TORCH infections
 infant developmental neuropathology; cerebellum
 tract degeneration
 infant spinal cord; sequence of myelination
 trinucleotide repeat disorders
 Lafora progressive myoclonic epilepsy
 vascular malformations