Excretory and Digestive Systems

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Anatomy › Excretory and Digestive Systems

Questions 1 - 10
1

What is the disease caused by the parasite Giardia?

Giardiasis

Gout

Geranium

Gastritis

Explanation

Giardiasis is the disease caused by the Giardia parasite. The parasite is passed through feces and can live up to several weeks outside of a host. Common symptoms of giardiasis is diarrhea, gas, stomach cramps, and dehydration. It is treated via prescription medication. Gastritis is characterized by inflammation of the stomach. In giardiasis, the intestines are affected. Gout is a rheumatoid disease and is not caused by an infectious agent. Geranium is a type of flower.

2

What is the disease caused by the parasite Giardia?

Giardiasis

Gout

Geranium

Gastritis

Explanation

Giardiasis is the disease caused by the Giardia parasite. The parasite is passed through feces and can live up to several weeks outside of a host. Common symptoms of giardiasis is diarrhea, gas, stomach cramps, and dehydration. It is treated via prescription medication. Gastritis is characterized by inflammation of the stomach. In giardiasis, the intestines are affected. Gout is a rheumatoid disease and is not caused by an infectious agent. Geranium is a type of flower.

3

A deficiency of which vitamin or mineral is responsible for beriberi?

Thiamine

Riboflavin

Vitamin B12

Vitamin E

Vitamin D

Explanation

Thiamine is a vitamin required for the metabolism of carbohydrates and amino acids. Deficiency of this vitamin results in beriberi, a disease typically of the malnourished. Symptoms of this disease manifest in many different ways such as heart failure, neuropathy, and leg swelling.

4

A 47-year old woman is brought by ambulance to the trauma bay after being involved in a high-speed motor vehicle collision. She is unresponsive, with a blood pressure of 78/42 and pulse 132. She is immediately intubated and breath sounds are confirmed. Her heart sounds are normal and peripheral pulses are intact. There is no obvious bleeding and two large bore IVs are started. Abdominal ultrasound reveals a fluid collection in the left upper quadrant. She continues to deteriorate and is brought emergently to the OR for exploratory laparotomy, where packing of the abdomen reveals extensive bleeding in the left upper quadrant. What do you expect is the cause of this bleeding?

Splenic laceration

Liver laceration

Right iliac artery laceration

Left iliac artery laceration

Bladder laceration

Explanation

Blood collecting in the left upper quadrant would suggest a splenic laceration.

The spleen is one of the most commonly injured organs with blunt abdominal trauma. It can and will bleed enough to make a patient hemodynamically unstable. Ultrasound performed in the trauma bay looks at four potential spaces of fluid collection: Morrison's pouch (right upper quadrant/liver), splenorenal recess (left upper quadrant/spleen), subxiphoid (heart), and the pouch of Douglas (suprapubic/pelvis). The liver is located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen and the spleen in the left upper quadrant

This patient's ultrasound showed fluid collection in the perisplenic space as well as extensive bleeding, which would suggest a splenic laceration as the cause of the patient's condition.

The liver is in the right upper quadrant. The right and left iliac arteries are in the right and left lower quadrants, respectively. Bladder laceration would result in fluid collection in the pelvis.

5

A 47-year old woman is brought by ambulance to the trauma bay after being involved in a high-speed motor vehicle collision. She is unresponsive, with a blood pressure of 78/42 and pulse 132. She is immediately intubated and breath sounds are confirmed. Her heart sounds are normal and peripheral pulses are intact. There is no obvious bleeding and two large bore IVs are started. Abdominal ultrasound reveals a fluid collection in the left upper quadrant. She continues to deteriorate and is brought emergently to the OR for exploratory laparotomy, where packing of the abdomen reveals extensive bleeding in the left upper quadrant. What do you expect is the cause of this bleeding?

Splenic laceration

Liver laceration

Right iliac artery laceration

Left iliac artery laceration

Bladder laceration

Explanation

Blood collecting in the left upper quadrant would suggest a splenic laceration.

The spleen is one of the most commonly injured organs with blunt abdominal trauma. It can and will bleed enough to make a patient hemodynamically unstable. Ultrasound performed in the trauma bay looks at four potential spaces of fluid collection: Morrison's pouch (right upper quadrant/liver), splenorenal recess (left upper quadrant/spleen), subxiphoid (heart), and the pouch of Douglas (suprapubic/pelvis). The liver is located in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen and the spleen in the left upper quadrant

This patient's ultrasound showed fluid collection in the perisplenic space as well as extensive bleeding, which would suggest a splenic laceration as the cause of the patient's condition.

The liver is in the right upper quadrant. The right and left iliac arteries are in the right and left lower quadrants, respectively. Bladder laceration would result in fluid collection in the pelvis.

6

A deficiency of which vitamin or mineral is responsible for beriberi?

Thiamine

Riboflavin

Vitamin B12

Vitamin E

Vitamin D

Explanation

Thiamine is a vitamin required for the metabolism of carbohydrates and amino acids. Deficiency of this vitamin results in beriberi, a disease typically of the malnourished. Symptoms of this disease manifest in many different ways such as heart failure, neuropathy, and leg swelling.

7

Pain location: right lower quadrant, periumbilical, may radiate to the right flank

Aggravations: movement or coughing

Positive tests: right psoas sign, Rovsing test, Blumberg test, McBurney test

Which of the following abdominal disorders fits best with the given description?

Acute appendicitis

Acute diverticulitis

Acute cholecystitis

Acute pancreatitis

Peptic ulcer

Explanation

Acute diverticulitis: left lower quadrant

Acute pancreatitis: epigastric, can radiate to back, poorly localized, leaning forward may help alleviate pain, laying supine aggravates. May have positive Grey Turner's sign and Cullen's sign.

Acute cholecystitis: Right Upper Quadrant, Positive Murphy Sign, may radiate into right shoulder and scapula

Peptic ulcer: epigastric, may radiate to back, wakens patient at night, possible relief with certain foods, gnawing/aching pain, heartburn

8

Pain location: right lower quadrant, periumbilical, may radiate to the right flank

Aggravations: movement or coughing

Positive tests: right psoas sign, Rovsing test, Blumberg test, McBurney test

Which of the following abdominal disorders fits best with the given description?

Acute appendicitis

Acute diverticulitis

Acute cholecystitis

Acute pancreatitis

Peptic ulcer

Explanation

Acute diverticulitis: left lower quadrant

Acute pancreatitis: epigastric, can radiate to back, poorly localized, leaning forward may help alleviate pain, laying supine aggravates. May have positive Grey Turner's sign and Cullen's sign.

Acute cholecystitis: Right Upper Quadrant, Positive Murphy Sign, may radiate into right shoulder and scapula

Peptic ulcer: epigastric, may radiate to back, wakens patient at night, possible relief with certain foods, gnawing/aching pain, heartburn

9

What disease features a build up of uric acid that leads to monosodium urate crystals in tissue?

Gout

Asthma

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

Ebola

Explanation

Gout is a rheumatic disease that features monosodium urate crystals in tissue as the result of excess levels of uric acid in the blood stream. This can be caused by over or under excretion of uric acid. Gout can be both acute or chronic. Obesity, alcohol consumption, meat-rich diets, and poor kidney function are all risk factors. Ebola is an infectious virus that causes hemorrhagic fever. Asthma is a form of COPD (the other is chronic bronchitis), and is characterized by bronchoconstriction, causing difficulty breathing, especially when exhaling.

10

When a patient has true "heartburn," their heart is not actually the problem; they are suffering from Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), also known as acid reflux. In this condition, acidic gastric contents inappropriately travel back from the stomach into the esophagus due to the faulty function of which structure?

Lower esophageal sphincter

Upper esophageal sphincter

Epiglottis

Ileocecal valve

Left mainstem bronchus

Explanation

The correct answer is the lower esophageal sphincter. In "heartburn," a patient's lower esophageal sphincter, which separates the distal esophagus from the proximal stomach, transiently relaxes its tone, inappropriately allowing food/digestive contents that have been acidified for digestion in the stomach to travel backwards into the distal esophagus. In patients with normal lower esophageal sphincter tone, i.e. without GERD, digestive contents that have passed to the stomach remain in the stomach without traveling backwards and causing an acidic, burning sensation in the esophagus.

The other answers are incorrect for the following reasons:

The epiglottis prevents food from being swallowed into the airway by closing off the airway temporarily during swallowing. It does not separate the esophagus from the stomach.

The upper esophageal sphincter is located proximally in the esophagus and opens to allow food to enter the esophagus from the pharynx. It does not separate the esophagus from the stomach.

The ileocecal valve is located distally in the small intestine, separating the ileum from the cecum of the colon. It functions to prevent colo-ileal reflux, but not gastro-esophageal reflux.

The left mainstem bronchus does not play any role in digestion of food or acid reflux, as it is part of the more distal respiratory tract.

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