Gen Med #4 Flashcards
Most common presenting feature for spinal cord compression?
Back pain.
What are the terms we should now use for sepsis, and what do they mean?
Sepsis and Septic shock
Sepsis: life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection
Septic shock: a more severe form sepsis, technically defined as ‘in which circulatory, cellular, and metabolic abnormalities are associated with a greater risk of mortality than with sepsis alone’*
Metastatic bone pain management options?
Analgesia, Bisphosphonates or Radiotherapy
How can you tell shigella apart from giardia?
Giardia is non bloody diarrhoea, shigella is bloody
What causes of gastroenteritis are bloody?
Shigella
Campylobacter (not always)
Amoebiasis
Which antibiotic classes can/can’t be used in pregnancy?
Penicillins and cephalosporins are suitable for use during pregnancy, but sulfonamides (such as sulfasalazine) and quinolones (such as ciprofloxacin) should be avoided in pregnancy.
Common presentation for encephalitis? what would differentiate a viral and bacterial cause?
Sudden change in behaviour and a fever, is highly suggestive of encephalitis. could have seizures.
What are the bugs in Group A and Group B beta haemolytic strep called?
Group A
- Strep Pyogenes
Group B
- Strep alginate
What are the main infective causes of genital ulcers and how do you differentiate?
Painful is either chancroid or Herpes. Herpes is more common than chancroid.
Painless is either syphilis or LGV, syphilis is more common.
LGV and Chancroid can cause painful inguinal lymphadenopathy
India ink and Ziehl niesen used to identify what organisms?
India ink - cryptococcus
Ziehl niesen - mycoplasma
What is acute intermittent porphyria?
Autosomal dominant condition caused by a defect in porphobilinogen deaminase.
Presents with abdominal and neuropsychiatric symptoms in 20-40 year olds, more common in females.
Abdominal: abdominal pain, vomiting
Neurological: motor neuropathy
Psychiatric: e.g. depression
Hypertension and tachycardia common
What is the more common form of acute leukaemia in adults?
Acute myeloid leukaemia?
What are the symptoms of AML?
Features are largely related to bone marrow failure:
- Anaemia: pallor, lethargy, weakness
- Neutropenia: whilst white cell counts may be very high, functioning neutrophil levels may be low leading to frequent infections etc.
- Thrombocytopenia: bleeding
- Splenomegaly
- Bone pain
Poor prognostic features in AML?
> 60 years
> 20% blasts after first course of chemo
cytogenetics: deletions of chromosome 5 or 7
What is aplastic anaemia? Causes?
Chronic pancytoaenia, due to hypoplastic bone marrow.
Can either be congenital or acquired
Congenital (fanconi) is autosomal recessive
Acquired has an identifiable cause, viral infection, radiation or drug exposure.
Treatment for aplastic anaemia?
Immunosuppression
Androgens
Stem cell transplantation
Blood product support
How may bone marrow failure present?
Anaemia
Infections
Easy bruising
What is autoimmune haemolytic anaemia? What are the types?
Either warm or cold. Normally idiopathic but can be due to lymphoproliferative disorder.
What are the causes of warm haemolytic anaemia?
Autoimmune disease: e.g. systemic lupus erythematosus*
Neoplasia: e.g. lymphoma, CLL
Drugs: e.g. methyldopa
What are the causes of cold haemolytic anaemia?
Neoplasia: e.g. lymphoma
Infections: e.g. mycoplasma, EBV
What are the features of beta thalassaemia? Pathogenesis?
Features:
- Presents in first year of life with failure to thrive and hepatosplenomegaly
- Microcytic anaemia
- HbA2 & HbF raised
- HbA absent
Caused by absent beta chains
Typical blood film picture post splenectomy?
Target cells Howell-Jolly bodies Pappenheimer bodies Siderotic granules Acanthocytes
Iron deficiency anaemia blood film picture?
Target cells
‘pencil’ poikilocytes
If combined with B12/folate deficiency a ‘dimorphic’ film occurs with mixed microcytic and macrocytic cells
Myelofibrosis typical blood film picture?
‘tear-drop’ poikilocytes
Intravascular haemolysis blood film?
Schistocytes
Megaloblastic anaemia blood film?
hypersegmented neutrophils
What are the main blood product (not blood) transfusion reactions?
Acute haemolytic transfusion reaction
- ABO mismatch
- Fever, abdo pain, chest pain, agitation, hypotension
Non-haemolytic febrile reaction
- HLA antibodies
Anaphylaxis
- Range of reactions
- Simple urticaria okay
- Any more serious reaction A-E resus
Infective
- vCJD
What is burkitts lymphoma?
High-grade B-cell neoplasm
Two forms
- Endemic (African) form: typically involves maxilla or mandible. EBV highly related.
- Sporadic form: abdominal (e.g. ileo-caecal) tumours are the most common form. More common in patients with HIV
Main difference in chronic and acute leukaemia?
In chronic they are partially matured, in acute they are not matured at all.
Philadelphia chromosome is associated with what?
CML
Difference in signs in CLL and CML?
CML associated with splenomegaly (and hepatomegaly)
CLL associated with Lymphadenopathy
features of CLL?
- Often none
- Constitutional: anorexia, weight loss
bleeding, infections - Lymphadenopathy more marked than CML
CLL complications?
- Anaemia
- Hypogammaglobulinaemia leading to recurrent infections
- Warm autoimmune haemolytic anaemia in 10-15% of patients
- Transformation to high-grade lymphoma (Richter’s transformation)
Normal age at presentation in CML?
60-70
First line treatment for CML?
Imatinib
What is the management for an unprovoked DVT or PE?
All patients:
- Physical examination
- CXR
- Blood tests
> 40 years old
- CT Abdo pelvis
- Mammography