A 74-year-old woman presents to her physician for a postoperative medical visit. Three days ago, she underwent a left total knee replacement for severe osteoarthritis. She has a past medical history significant for type 1 diabetes mellitus and glaucoma. Her hospital course was uneventful. She continues to take daily NPH insulin and has good control [...]
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A 70-year-old man presents to the emergency department with a 3-day history of right temporal headache, fever, and profound malaise. He appears acutely ill. His temperature is 39.5°C (103.1°F), blood pressure is 130/80 mm Hg, pulse is 98/min, and respirations are 24/min. Tenderness over the right temporal region is appreciated on palpation. The right temporal [...]
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A 23-year-old type 1 diabetic is brought to the emergency department after being found in a coma. The scent of acetone is present on the patient’s breath. Urinary catheterization with subsequent dipstick analysis demonstrates marked positivity for glucose and ketones. Stat blood chemistries would most likely show which of the following values for the anion [...]
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A 34-year-old woman who is healthy without underlying medical problems presents to clinic with complaints of temperature up to 101°F and cough with greenish sputum production for 2 days without any dyspnea. Her heart rate is 88/min, and her respiratory rate is 18/min. There is no accessory muscle use or conversational dyspnea, nor are there [...]
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A 35-year-old woman consults an ophthalmologist because of double vision and droopy eyelids. She also has complaints of generalized muscle weakness. IV injection of edrophonium dramatically, but only briefly, reverses her symptoms. This patient’s probable disease has a pathophysiologic basis that is closest to that of which of the following conditions? Bullous pemphigoid Diabetes mellitus [...]
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A 50-year-old man consults a physician because he has been having transient periods of rapid heart beat accompanied by sweating, flushing, and a sense of impending doom. Physical examination is unrevealing, with no evidence of arrhythmia at the time of the exam. However, the man’s wife is a nurse, so the physician asks that she [...]
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A 72-year-old man comes to the physician because of a 3-day history of right-sided chest pain. He denies any shortness of breath, nausea or vomiting. Physical examination shows a unilateral, erythematous, maculopapular rash extending from the anterior chest wall around to the back in a dermatomal pattern. The remainder of the examination is normal. In [...]
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A 40-year-old man is brought to the emergency room by his friends. Apparently, he has ingested some unknown medication in a suicide attempt. The patient is disoriented to time. His temperature is 39.3°C (103°F), blood pressure is 120/85 mmHg, pulse is 100/min and irregular, and respirations are 22/min. The skin is flushed and dry. Dilated [...]
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A 45-year-old patient on hemodialysis for one week has noted that his blood pressure is more difficult to control. He reports good compliance with his medications, which include erythropoietin, ferrous sulfate, vancomycin, and vitamin D. His blood pressure is 180/99 mm Hg. Which of the following is the most likely cause for the worsening control [...]
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A 70-year-old woman has been in long-standing poor health, with severe diabetes mellitus and rheumatoid arthritis. Her physician notes that she appears pale and orders a hematocrit, which shows a result of 35%. Examination of the blood smear reveals a microcytic anemia. The physician is considering a differential diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia versus anemia [...]
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