Cardiology — MCQs

A 72-year-old man presents to the primary care clinic for evaluation of progressive fatigue and weight loss. His past medical history is significant for hypercholesterolemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, aortic stenosis, and chronic renal insufficiency. He endorses being well-rested after waking from sleep but fatiguing rapidly during the day. In addition, he states that he has lost 15lbs over the previous month. His temperature is 98.3°F (36.8°C), pulse is 100/min, blood pressure is 110/85 mmHg, respirations are 16/min, and oxygen saturation is 96% on room air. Physical exam is notable for conjunctival pallor and scattered areas of ecchymoses. His laboratory results are shown below: Serum: Na+: 140 mEq/L K+: 4.0 mEq/L Cl-: 101 mEq/L HCO3-: 22 mEq/L BUN: 30 mg/dL Glucose: 160 mg/dL Creatinine: 1.9 mg/dL Leukocyte count: 1,100/mm^3 Absolute neutrophil count 920/mm^3 Hemoglobin 8.4 g/dL Platelet count: 45,000/mm^3 Mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration: 34% Red blood cell distribution width: 12.0% Mean corpuscular volume: 92 µm^3 Lactate dehydrogenase: 456 IU/L Haptoglobin 120 mg/dL Fibrinogen 214 mg/dL A bone marrow biopsy is performed which shows cells that are CD19+, CD20+, CD11c+, and stain with acid phosphatase 5 and tartrate-resistant. Which of the following is the next best step in the treatment of his disorder?

A 38-year-old woman presents with fever and acute onset chest pain for the past 12 hours. She describes the pain as severe, sharp and stabbing in character, and localized to the retrosternal area. She also says the pain is worse when she breathes deeply or coughs. Past medical history is significant for recently diagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Her vital signs include: blood pressure 110/75 mm Hg, pulse 95/min, and temperature 38.0°C (100.4°F). Physical examination is significant for a friction rub heard best at the lower left sternal border. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis in this patient?

A 20-year-old man presents to the doctor's office for advice on improving his health. He admits to eating mostly junk food, and he knows that he should lose some weight. His daily physical activity is limited to walking around the college campus between classes. Except for an occasional headache for which he takes acetaminophen, he has no health concerns and takes no other medications. He denies smoking and illicit drug use, but admits to occasional beer binge drinking on weekends. He is sexually active with his current girlfriend and regularly uses condoms. His mother has type 2 diabetes mellitus and obesity, while his father has hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. The pulse is 74/min, the respiratory rate is 16/min, and the blood pressure is 130/76 mm Hg. The body mass index (BMI) is 29 kg/m2. Physical examination reveals an overweight young male, and the rest is otherwise unremarkable. The routine lab test results are as follows: Serum Glucose (fasting) 100 mg/dL Serum Electrolytes: Sodium 141 mEq/L Potassium 4.0 mEq/L Chloride 100 mEq/L Cholesterol, total 190 mg/dL HDL-cholesterol 42 mg/dL LDL-cholesterol 70 mg/dL Triglycerides 184 mg/dL Urinalysis: Glucose Negative Ketones Negative Leukocytes Negative Nitrites Negative RBCs Negative Casts Negative Which of the following lifestyle changes would most likely benefit this patient the most?

A 53-year-old man comes to the emergency department because of a 1-month history of cough productive of small amounts of blood-tinged sputum. During this time, he has also developed fatigue, myalgia, and shortness of breath on exertion. He has had a 4-lb (2-kg) weight loss over the past 2 months. He has no personal history of serious illness. His mother has systemic lupus erythematosus. His temperature is 37.2°C (99.0 °F), pulse is 98/min, respirations are 22/min, and blood pressure is 152/98 mm Hg. Diffuse rhonchi are heard on auscultation of the chest bilaterally. There are multiple palpable, erythematous, nonblanching lesions on the lower extremities bilaterally. Laboratory studies show: Leukocyte count 12,300 cells/mm3 Platelet count 400,000 cells/mm3 Erythrocyte sedimentation rate 83 mm/hr Serum Creatinine 2.1 mg/dL Antinuclear antibody 1:40 Urine Protein 3+ Blood 2+ RBC casts numerous A biopsy specimen of the skin shows inflammation of the arterioles and capillaries without granuloma formation. Further evaluation of this patient is most likely to show which of the following findings?

A 30-year-old woman presents to the emergency department in a state of confusion and disorientation that started this morning. She is accompanied by her husband who says that she has been unwell for about one week. She has been complaining of fatigue. Her husband says that this morning, she also complained that her urine was dark red in color and that there were some red spots over her legs. He did notice some changes in her level of consciousness that worsened over time and he decided to bring her in today. She does not have a significant medical history. Physical examination shows petechiae over her arms and legs. She is conscious but drowsy and disoriented and unable to answer the physician’s questions appropriately. Her temperature is 38.3°C (100.9°F), blood pressure is 160/100 mm Hg, pulse rate is 90/min, and respiratory rate is 20/min. Laboratory studies show: Hemoglobin 10 g/dL Leukocyte count 9,000/mm3 Platelet count 30,000/mm3 Bleeding time 10 min Prothrombin time 12 s Activated partial thromboplastin time 30 s D-dimer 0.4 mg/L (normal < 0.5 mg/L) Serum fibrinogen 350 mg/dL (normal 200–400 mg/dL) Serum bilirubin (indirect) 2.2 mg/dL Serum creatinine 1.5 mg/dL Serum LDH 1,010 U/L Based on her history, and her physical and laboratory findings, which of the following is the most likely pathophysiology for her presentation?

A 31-year-old woman presents to the clinic with shortness of breath, palpitations, and fatigue. She has had these symptoms over the last several weeks. She had been tolerating these symptoms until last night when she could not fall asleep due to palpitations. She has a past medical history of infective endocarditis 6 months ago that was successfully treated with antibiotics. She does not smoke or drink alcohol. Her blood pressure is 138/89 mm Hg and her pulse is 76/min and regular. The cardiac exam reveals a soft S1, S3 gallop, a hyperdynamic apex beat, and a pansystolic murmur that radiates to the axilla on auscultation. Echocardiography reveals incompetence of one of the valves. Which of the following sites is the best position to auscultate this defect?

A 43-year-old man presents to a primary care clinic complaining of several months of fatigue and difficulty concentrating at work. He is tired throughout the day and often falls asleep briefly at work. He sleeps for 9 hours per night, falling asleep easily, waking up several times in the middle of the night, and then having trouble waking up in the morning. Physical exam is notable for obesity and a large neck circumference. His temperature is 98°F (36.7°C), blood pressure is 150/90 mmHg, pulse is 75/min, respirations are 22/min, and BMI is 33 kg/m^2. The rest of the physical exam is normal. Which of the following is the most likely cause of his fatigue?

A 23-year-old man presents to his physician's office with increasing breathlessness over the past one month. He was diagnosed with asthma when he was a child and has been able to keep his symptoms under control with a Ventolin inhaler. However, over the past year or so he has found that he gets out of breath on several occasions during the week. He wakes up at least once a week with breathlessness. He finds that he feels out of breath during his weekly football matches, which never used to happen before. He has to sit down and take a couple of puffs of his inhaler to feel better. He has no other pertinent history at this moment, except that he started on a new job painting houses about 5 months ago. His physical examination does not show anything significant. His peak expiratory flow rate during spirometry averages about 85% of the normal value, after conducting the test 3 times. Which of the following would be the next best step in management?

A 40-year-old man presents to a clinic in Michigan in December complaining of painful blue fingers and toes. He also complains of numbness and tingling. The patient’s vital signs are within normal limits, and his symptoms typically disappear when he comes back into a warm room. The patient also notes that he recently moved to the area from Arizona and had recently recovered from a viral infection in which he had a low-grade fever and severe lymphadenopathy. Which of the following tests would most likely be positive in this patient?

A 52-year-old woman is accompanied by her husband to the emergency department with a severe occipital headache that started suddenly an hour ago. She is drowsy but able to answer the physician's questions. She describes it as the worst headache she has ever had, 9/10 in intensity. The husband says it was initially localized to the occiput but has now spread all over her head and she also complained of a generalized heaviness. She took an ibuprofen without experiencing any relief. She also complains of blurry vision and nausea and had 1 episode of vomiting. She denies a recent history of fever, chills, numbness, or seizures. Her past medical history is significant for hypertension controlled with lisinopril and metoprolol. On examination, she is drowsy but oriented. Papilledema is seen on ophthalmoscopy. Neck flexion is difficult and painful. The rest of the exam is unremarkable. Her blood pressure is 160/100 mm Hg, heart rate is 100/min, and temperature is 37.0°C (98.6°F). The ECG, cardiac enzymes, and laboratory studies are normal. Lumbar puncture results are as follows: Opening pressure 210 mm H2O RBC 50/mm3, numbers steady over 4 test tubes Cell count 5/mm3 Glucose 60 mg/dL Proteins 100 mg/dL The patient is admitted to the ICU for further management. Which of the following is the most likely pathophysiology based on her history and CSF findings?