Cardiology — MCQs

A 61-year-old man presents to the emergency room with a painful, swollen left leg. He states that his symptoms began that morning after a long flight from Australia. He denies shortness of breath, chest pain, or cough. On review of systems, he notes that he has been constipated recently and had several episodes of bright red blood per rectum. He has not noticed any weight loss, fevers, or night sweats. He has a past medical history of a deep vein thrombosis 4 years ago during a hospitalization for community acquired pneumonia and was treated with warfarin for 3 months afterward. He also has chronic hepatitis C from previous intravenous drug use. The patient has a 30 pack-year smoking history and has never had a colonoscopy. His father is 84-years-old and has chronic kidney disease from diabetes, and his mother passed away from a massive pulmonary embolus when pregnant with his younger sister. In the emergency room, his temperature is 98.7°F (37.1°C), blood pressure is 142/85 mm/Hg, pulse is 79/min, and respirations are 14/min. On exam, he is in no acute distress. His left calf is larger in caliber than the right calf which is red and tender to palpation. Dorsiflexion of the foot worsens the pain. His abdomen is soft, nontender, and nondistended without hepatomegaly. The remainder of the physical exam is unremarkable. Labs are shown below: Hemoglobin: 13.0 g/dL Leukocyte count: 6,000/mm^3 Platelets: 160,000/mm^3 Aspartate aminotransferase: 15 U/L Alanine aminotransferase: 19 U/L Alkaline phosphatase: 81 IU/L Hepatitis C antibody: reactive Hepatitis C titer: 0 copies/mL Which of the following is the most likely cause of this patient’s condition?

A 32-year-old woman comes to the physician because of a 2-week history of involuntary loss of urine. She loses small amounts of urine in the absence of an urge to urinate and for no apparent reason. She also reports that she has an intermittent urinary stream. Two years ago, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Current medications include glatiramer acetate and a multivitamin. She works as a librarian. She has 2 children who attend middle school. Vital signs are within normal limits. The abdomen is soft and nontender. Pelvic examination shows no abnormalities. Neurologic examination shows a slight hypesthesia in the lower left arm and absent abdominal reflex, but otherwise no abnormalities. Her post-void residual urine volume is 131 mL. Bladder size is normal. Which of the following is the most likely cause of the patient's urinary incontinence?

A 32-year-old African American woman comes to the physician because of fatigue and difficulty swallowing for 6 weeks. She also complains of painful discoloration in her fingers when exposed to cold weather. She has smoked one pack of cigarettes daily for 4 years. She appears younger than her stated age. Physical examination shows smooth, swollen fingers with small white calcifications on her fingertips bilaterally. This patient is at increased risk for which of the following complications?

A 19-year-old girl with a history of immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), managed with systemic corticosteroids, presents with bruising, acne, and weight gain. Patient says that 3 months ago she gradually began to notice significant weight gain and facial and truncal acne. She says these symptoms progressively worsened until she discontinued her corticosteroid therapy 4 weeks ago. This week, she began to notice multiple bruises all over her body. Past medical history is significant for ITP, diagnosed 11 years ago, managed until recently with systemic corticosteroid therapy. The patient is afebrile and vital signs are within normal limits. On physical examination, there are multiple petechiae and superficial bruises on her torso and extremities bilaterally. There is moderate truncal obesity and as well as a mild posterior cervical adipose deposition. Multiple deep comedones are present on the face and upper torso. Which of the following is the best course of treatment in this patient?

A 55-year-old man comes to the physician because of increasing shortness of breath for 1 month. Initially, he was able to climb the 3 flights of stairs to his apartment, but he now needs several breaks to catch his breath. He has no chest pain. He has rheumatic heart disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus. He emigrated from India about 25 years ago. The patient's current medications include carvedilol, torsemide, and insulin. He appears uncomfortable. His temperature is 37.3°C (99.1°F), pulse is 72/min and regular, respirations are 18/min, and blood pressure is 130/80 mm Hg. Pulse oximetry on room air shows an oxygen saturation of 96%. Examination shows bilateral crackles at the lung bases. There is an opening snap followed by a low-pitched diastolic murmur at the fifth left intercostal space at the mid-clavicular line. An x-ray of the chest shows left atrial enlargement, straightening of the left cardiac border and increased vascular markings. Which of the following is the preferred intervention to improve this patient's symptoms?

A 54-year-old man comes to the physician because of excessive daytime sleepiness for 5 months. He wakes up frequently at night, and his wife says his snoring has become louder. He is 180 cm (5 ft 10 in) tall and weighs 104 kg (230 lb); his BMI is 33 kg/m2. His pulse is 80/min and his respiratory rate is 11/min. His jugular venous pressure is 7 cm H2O. He has 2+ pitting edema of the lower legs and ankles. Arterial blood gas analysis on room air shows a pH of 7.42 and a PCO2 of 41 mm Hg. An x-ray of the chest shows normal findings. Which of the following is the most likely underlying cause of this patient's condition?

A 53-year-old woman presents to a physician with a cough which she has had for the last 5 years. She mentions that her cough is worse in the morning and is associated with significant expectoration. There is no history of weight loss or constitutional symptoms like fever and malaise. Her past medical records show that she required hospitalization for breathing difficulty on 6 different occasions in the last 3 years. She also mentions that she was never completely free of her respiratory problems during the period between the exacerbations and that she has a cough with sputum most of the months for the last 3 years. She works in a cotton mill and is a non-smoker. Her mother and her maternal grandmother had asthma. Her temperature is 37.1°C (98.8°F), the pulse is 92/min, the blood pressure is 130/86 mm Hg, and her respiratory rate is 22/min. General examination shows obesity and mild cyanosis. Auscultation of her chest reveals bilateral coarse rhonchi. Her lung volumes on pulmonary function test are given below: Pre-bronchodilator Post-bronchodilator FEV1 58% 63% FVC 90% 92% FEV1/FVC 0.62 0.63 TLC 98% 98% The results are valid and repeatable as per standard criteria. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?

A 27-year-old woman with a history of a "heart murmur since childhood" presents following a series of syncopal episodes over the past several months. She also complains of worsening fatigue over this time period, and notes that her lips have begun to take on a bluish tinge, for which she has been using a brighter shade of lipstick. You do a careful examination, and detect a right ventricular heave, clubbing of the fingers, and 2+ pitting edema bilaterally to the shins. Despite your patient insisting that every doctor she has ever seen has commented on her murmur, you do not hear one. Transthoracic echocardiography would most likely detect which of the following?

A 47-year-old man is brought to the emergency department by his wife 30 minutes after the onset of nausea, sweating, and palpitations. On the way to the hospital, he had an episode of non-bloody vomiting and intravenous fluid resuscitation has been started. He has no history of similar symptoms. For the past 2 weeks, he has been trying to lose weight and has adjusted his diet and activity level. He eats a low-carb diet and runs 3 times a week for exercise; he came home from a training session 3 hours ago. He was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes mellitus 2 years ago that is controlled with basal insulin and metformin. He appears anxious. His pulse is 105/min and blood pressure is 118/78 mm Hg. He is confused and oriented only to person. Examination shows diaphoresis and pallor. A fingerstick blood glucose concentration is 35 mg/dL. Shortly after, the patient loses consciousness and starts shaking. Which of the following is the most appropriate next step in management?

A 38-year-old male presents to his primary care physician complaining of increasing shortness of breath over the past 2 months. He reports experiencing an extended illness of several weeks as a child that required him to miss school. He is unsure but believes it involved a sore throat followed by a fever and joint pains. He does not recall seeing a physician or receiving treatment for this. Today, on physical examination, cardiac auscultation reveals an opening snap after the second heart sound followed by a diastolic murmur. A follow-up echocardiogram is conducted. Which of the following best explains the pathophysiology of this patient's condition?