Face and scalp — MCQs

A 17-year-old girl presents to an urgent care clinic after waking up in the morning with a left-sided facial droop and an inability to fully close her left eye. Of note, she is currently on oral contraceptives and escitalopram and smokes half a pack of cigarettes per day. Her temperature is 98.2°F (36.8°C), blood pressure is 110/68 mmHg, pulse is 82/min, and respirations are 12/min. On exam, she has generalized, unilateral left-sided drooping of her upper and lower face, and an inability to move the left side of her mouth or close her left eye. Her extraocular movements and swallow are intact. She has no other neurologic deficits. Which of the following interventions would most likely address the most likely cause of this patient's symptoms?

A 63-year-old man is brought to the emergency department by his wife because she is concerned he is having another stroke. The patient says he woke up with right-sided facial weakness and drooping. Past medical history is significant for a recent case of shingles treated with acyclovir, and a stroke, diagnosed 10 years ago, from which he recovered with no residual functional deficits. On physical examination, there is weakness and drooping of the entire right side of the face. Sensation is intact. The remainder of the physical examination is unremarkable. Which of the following additional findings would also most likely be seen in this patient?

A 31-year-old man comes to the emergency department because of drooping of the left side of his face since awakening that morning. He had difficulty chewing his food at breakfast. He was treated the previous day at the hospital after sustaining a head injury from falling off a ladder while working on his roof. A plain CT of the brain at that visit showed no abnormalities. He is in no apparent distress. His vital signs are within normal limits. The pupils are equal and reactive to light. There is drooping of the left corner of the mouth. The left nasolabial fold is flattened. When asked to close both eyes, the left eye remains partially open. There are no wrinkles on the left side of the forehead when the eyebrows are raised. Which of the following is the most appropriate next step in management?

A 43-year-old woman presents to the neurology clinic in significant pain. She reports a sharp, stabbing electric-like pain on the right side of her face. The pain started suddenly 2 weeks ago. The pain is so excruciating that she can no longer laugh, speak, or eat her meals as these activities cause episodes of pain. She had to miss work last week as a result. Her attacks last about 3 minutes and go away when she goes to sleep. She typically has 2–3 attacks per day now. The vital signs include: blood pressure 132/84 mm Hg, heart rate 79/min, and respiratory rate 14/min. A neurological examination shows no loss of crude touch, tactile touch, or pain sensations on the right side of the face. The pupillary light and accommodation reflexes are normal. There is no drooping of her mouth, ptosis, or anhidrosis noted. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?

A 29-year-old man presents to the emergency room with facial weakness. He first noticed that he was having trouble smiling normally while at dinner with friends the night before. He also noticed that his food had less taste than usual during the dinner. He woke up on the day of presentation with a complete inability to move the right side of his face. He recently returned from an extended camping trip in the Appalachian Mountains, but he did not find any tick bites following the camping trip. His past medical history is notable for Achilles tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome. He works as a computer programmer. He smokes marijuana occasionally but does not smoke cigarettes. His temperature is 98.6°F (37°C), blood pressure is 120/75 mmHg, pulse is 80/min, and respirations are 18/min. On exam, he is well-appearing in no acute distress. There is loss of facial wrinkles along the forehead, eyelids, and nasolabial folds. He is unable to completely close his right eye, raise his eyebrows, or smile with the right side of his mouth. Sensation is intact to light touch along the forehead, maxilla, and mandible bilaterally. Where is the most likely source of this patient’s lesion?

A 50-year-old man undergoes parathyroidectomy for treatment-resistant hyperparathyroidism. The procedure is complicated by brisk bleeding from the superior thyroid artery near the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve. To stop the bleeding, the artery is ligated at its origin. Which of the following is most likely the origin of the artery that was injured in this patient?

A 65-year-old man presents with facial weakness. He says he noticed that his face appeared twisted when he looked in the bathroom mirror this morning. He is otherwise well and does not have any other complaints. He denies any facial pain or paresthesia. No significant past medical history. The patient is afebrile and vital signs are within normal limits. Neurological examination reveals difficulty shutting the right eye tight and inability to bring up the right corner of his mouth when asked to smile. Remainder of the exam, including the left side of the face, is unremarkable. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis in this patient?

A 65-year-old female with a past medical history of hypertension presents to her primary care doctor with a 3 month history of spasmodic facial pain. The pain is located in her right cheek and seems to be triggered when she smiles, chews, or brushes her teeth. The pain is sharp and excruciating, lasts for a few seconds, and occurs up to twenty times per day. She denies headaches, blurry vision, facial weakness, or changes in her memory. She feels rather debilitated and has modified much of her daily activities to avoid triggering the spasms. In the clinic, her physical exam is within normal limits. Her primary care doctor prescribes carbamazepine and asks her to follow up in a few weeks. Which cranial nerve is most likely involved in the patient's disease process?

A 24-year-old man is brought to the emergency department 30 minutes after being involved in a high-speed motor vehicle collision in which he was a restrained driver. On arrival, he is alert and oriented. His pulse is 112/min, respirations are 29/min, and blood pressure is 100/60 mm Hg. The pupils are equal and reactive to light. There is a 3-cm laceration over the forehead and multiple bruises over the trunk. The lungs are clear to auscultation. Cardiac examination shows no abnormalities. The abdomen is soft and nontender. The right knee is swollen and tender; range of motion is limited by pain. Infusion of 0.9% saline is begun and intravenous acetaminophen is administered. Two hours later, blood-tinged fluid spontaneously drains from both nostrils, and is made worse by leaning forward. On a piece of gauze, it shows up as a rapidly-expanding clear ring of fluid surrounding blood. Further evaluation of this patient is most likely to show which of the following?

A 71-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with a headache for the past 30 minutes. She says that this is the worst headache of her life and that it came on suddenly after she hit her head. She says that she has also been experiencing visual problems with double vision when she looks to the left or the right. Visual examination reveals that her right eye cannot move right past the midline and her left eye cannot move left past the midline. Which of the following is most likely responsible for this patient's visual defects?