Question of the Week # 450 and #451

Posted on October 19, 2014 by Archer USMLE Reviews

450) A 74 year old man with poorly controlled Diabetes Type II presents to your office with complaints of severe right ear pain since yesterday night. The Pain was particularly worse in the night and interfered with his sleep. He took some Advil but pain persisted. He also reports headache on right temporal aspect. On examination, his right external auditory canal is slightly red and swollen and extremely tender to touch. There is some white debris and granulation tissue at the junction of bone and the cartilage. Laboratory studies show normal WBC count with no left shift. Which of the following additional tests is useful in supporting the diagnosis? 

A) Comprehensive metabolic panel

B) Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate

C) Anti-nuclear antibodies

D) Hemoglobin A1C.

E) Screening nares for MRSA ( Methicillin Resistant Staph. Aureus)

451) What is the most important next step in management?

A) Oral Cephalexin

B) Surgical resection

C) Intravenous Ciprofloxacin

D) Intravenous Ceftriaxone

E) Ciprofloxacin ear drops

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Question of the Week # 432

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Archer USMLE Reviews

432) A 62-year-old man presents with painless, progressive enlargement in the left side of his neck over the past 3 months. He denies any fever, night sweats or chills. He denies any pain, dysphagia, cough, hemoptysis, chestpain, shortness of breath, history of trauma or dental infection. His past medical history is significant for  100 pack-year history of smoking and daily alcohol abuse. On examination, he is afebrile. He has a large 5 cm , hard, non-tender and matted lymphadenopathy on the left lateral aspect of his neck . He has no other lymph node enlargement. No rash. Reminder of the exam including oral cavity examination is normal. There are no obvious tongue, pharyngeal or tonsillar lesions.  HIV and VDRL are negative. A CT scan of the chest, abdomen and pelvis does not reveal any lymphadenopathy or obvious mass lesions. Which of the following is the most appropriate next step in management?

A) Open biopsy of the neck mass

B) Pan-endoscopy

C)  Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology ( FNAC)

D) Test for HPV ( Human Papilloma Virus) and EBV ( Ebstein Barr Virus)

E) Prescribe antibiotic therapy and re-evaluate in 4 weeks

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Question of the Week # 428

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Archer USMLE Reviews

428) A 32-year-old male boxer presents to the emergency room after sustaining an injury during a local boxing match.  He was punched by the opponent over his right ear about six hours ago . He complains of pain and swelling over his right ear. He has no hearing deficit or tinnitus or headaches or blurred vision. He denies nausea or vomiting. Past medical history is unremarkable. On examination, his vitals are stable. His right ear is red, warm and swollen with a medium sized anterior auricular swelling which is tender to palpation. There is no facial swelling. If untreated, which of the following would be most likely course of this injury?

A) Spontaneous Resolution

B) Hearing Deficit

C) Permanent ear disfigurement

D) Otitis Externa

E) Mastoiditis

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Question of the Week # 427

Posted on May 22, 2012 by Archer USMLE Reviews

427) A 32-year-old male boxer presents to the emergency room after sustaining an injury during a local boxing match.  He was punched by the opponent over his right ear about six hours ago . He complains of pain and swelling over his right ear. He has no hearing deficit or tinnitus or headaches or blurred vision. He denies nausea or vomiting. Past medical history is unremarkable. On examination, his vitals are stable. His right ear is red, warm and swollen with a medium sized anterior auricular swelling which is tender to palpation. There is no facial swelling. Which of the following is the most appropriate management?

A) Compressive dressing

B) Needle aspiration of the Hematoma

C) Cold compresses, analgesics and antibiotics

D) Incision and Drainage

E) Observe and await  spontaneous hematoma resolution

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Question of the Week # 325

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Archer USMLE Reviews

325 )  A 87 year old Caucasian man is evaluated in your office for progressive hearing loss. He reports defective hearing on both sides that started more than a year ago and has gradually worsened. The problem is particularly worse when he is in a crowded or noisy environment. He also reports frequent occurrence of roaring sounds and sounds similar to “ringing bells” in his ears. On otoscopic examination, he has mild cerumen impaction in bilateral ears. The Tympanic membranes are intact. Which of the following is the most characteristic feature seen with this condition?

A) Inability to hear “Vowel” sounds in the speech

B) Audiogram showing bilateral high-frequency sensory-neural hearing loss

C) Weber Test showing lateralization towards Right ear

D) A negative Rinne test

E) Otosclerosis

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Question of the Week # 309

Posted on January 9, 2012 by Archer USMLE Reviews

309)  A 76-year-old man presented with a 4-month history of recurrent vertigo. He reports feeling a sensation of spinning dizziness on turning the neck to his left. He also reports left sided headaches and decreased hearing on the left. Each episode lasted about 15 to 20 minutes and occurred when he turned his head to the left. He denies any ringing sensation in ears,  nausea or vomiting. He denies any chest-pain, shortness of breath or palpitations.  His past medical history is significant for hypertension and diet controlled diabetes. His medications include  hydrochlorothiazide and enalapril. He also has history chronic neck pain due to cervical spondylosis for which he uses tylenol. On examination, his blood pressure in supine position is 140/88 mmHg and  blood pressure on standing is is 130/86. Tympanic membranes are visible and there is some cerumen in the left ear. Using a 512Hz tuning fork , bone conduction is found to be better than air conduction on the left and Weber test shows lateralization to the left. Dix-Hallpike’s and Lhermitte’s signs are negative. There are no other neurological deficits. Gait is normal. Range of motion of the neck is limited on lateral movements and neck pain is elicited by turning to left side. An X-ray of cervical spine shows severe spondylosis with discopathy and osteophytes from C2 to C4 vertebrae.  Which of the following is the most appropriate management of  his dizziness?

A) Discontinue Hydrochlorthiazide

B) Cervical Collar

C) Cerumen Disimpaction

D) Increase Diuretics and add Meclizine

E) Methylprednisolone

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