Archer USMLE Step 3 Blog

#491.  A 65-year-old African-American male with a long-standing history of coronary artery disease and hypertension presents with shortness of breath and fatigue.  Patient says he feels fatigued throughout the day and that he can no longer walk across the room without being short of breath.  Patient states that symptoms onset a couple days ago and have steadily worsened.

Vitals are temperature 37 °C (98.6 °F), blood pressure 165/82 mm Hg, pulse 100/min, respirations 18/min, and oxygen saturation 97% on room air.  On physical exam, patient appears alert and in no apparent distress.  Cardiac exam reveals a load P2 and an S3 gallop.  Pulses are regular but have alternating strong and weak beats.  Mean jugular venous pressure is 12 cm H₂0.  Pulmonary exam reveals crackles in the lower lung fields bilaterally.  Extremities are cool to the touch and there is 2+ pitting edema bilaterally.

Laboratory tests show:

Sodium                                               120 mEq/L

Potassium                                           4.0 mEqL

Chloride                                               100 mEq/L

Bicarbonate                                         25 mEq/L

BUN                                                     45 mg/dL

Creatinine                                           1.0 g mg/dL

Glucose (fasting)                                90 mg/dL

Magnesium                                         1.7 mg/dL

Calcium                                               9.0 mg/dL

Phosphorous                                       4.1 mg/dL

Bilirubin, conjugated                           0.2 mg/dL

Bilirubin, total                                     1.0 mg/dL

AST (SGOT)                                          20 mU/mL

ALT (SGPT)                                          15 mU/mL

Alkaline Phosphatase                         80 U/L

WBC                                                    7000 / mm³

RBC                                                     5 x 10⁶/mm³

Hematocrit                                          45%

Hemoglobin                                         15.0 g/dL

Platelet Count                                     250,000 / mm³

BNP                                                     750 pg/mL

NT-proBNP                                          1250 pg/mL

Troponin T (cTnT)                                0.05 ng/mL

Troponin I (cTnI)                                  0.03 ng/mL

Chest X-ray reveals evidence of pulmonary vascular congestion and pulmonary edema in the lung bases bilaterally.  EKG reveals Q wavs in leads V1 and V2, evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy and a left bundle branch block.  Transthoracic echocardiography reveals a LV ejection fraction of 25%, increased left ventricular wall thickness, moderate left atrial enlargement, and evidence of left anterior wall dyskinesis consistent with an old anterior wall myocardial infarction.

Patient is admitted to CCU and started on high flow 100% oxygen by nasal canula.  Carvedilol 25 mg orally twice daily, captopril 25 mg orally three times daily, furosemide 100 mg orally, and eplerenone 25 mg orally daily are initiated.

Which of the following is the next best step in management of this patient

A. Administer 1 L NS bolus and then NS + 20 mEq/L KCL IV at 115 mL/h

B. Initiate hydralazine 35 mg orally 3 times daily and isosorbide dinitrate 20 mg orally 3 times daily.

C. Restrict sodium intake to 5 g/day

D. Initiate digoxin 4 mcg/kg orally daily

E. Initiate diltiazem 150 mg orally daily

@card-hageman

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