Quiz 3 Cases Flashcards
Case 40 pneumonia: What is his chief complaint?
Fever and chills. The patient has an unproductive cough and shortness of breath upon exertion.
Case 40 pneumonia: What significant thing has been happening in the last week? What else in his history might be contributory?
Fever and chills that have persisted for one week. He has been working in cold weather and is under stress.
Case 40 pneumonia: What are off in his vital signs?
Temperature and respiration are high.
Case 40 pneumonia: What was the problem with deep breaths?
There is dyspnea during deep breaths
Case 40 pneumonia: Altered breath sounds: is pneumonia more likely to result in consolidation of distant breath sounds? Explain. What causes the dullness to percussion?
Dullness to percussion is caused by fluid accumulation in the lungs.
case 40 pneumonia: Explain the effect on pulse oximetry. By “90% saturation”, what is saturated by what?
Oxygen is saturated by hemoglobin.
Case 40 pneumonia What causes the fever and the chills?
Fever is caused by inflammatory responses (particularly cytokines) to bacteria crossing into the alveoli
Case 40 pneumonia: Explain what the spirometers results would have been and why for tidal volume, vital capacity, FEV1
Spirometers would show low tidal volume and low vital capacity, but the FEV1 would be normal.
case 41 brain injury: What does the decerebrate posture indicate?
Damage to the brainstem.
case 41 brain injury: What causes decerebrate posture?
Have cut off the inhibitory input from the basal nuclei and the substantia nigra (removal of all inhibitory descending inputs onto the spinal cord alpha motor neurons), which are motor control areas. Exciting basal nuclei causes relaxation of the muscles. If have all the downward anti-gravity extensor rigidity (increased muscle tone), will not be able to move.
case 41 brain injury: What is an epidural hematoma?
Bleeding between the inside of the skull and the outside of the dura. It causes pressure on the brainstem and its arterial supply and in damage to the brainstem.
case 41 brain injury: What is the ARAS? What is its function?
Ascending reticular activating system (is located in the brainstem), controls arousal and attentiveness
case 41 brain injury: What is the Glasgow coma scale?
Associating the function of verbal command and motor function. His was 3, there is no lower score than that.
case 41 brain injury: VS: Where is the most likely damage site causing low T? Low pulse, respiration, BP, pulse pressure?
Nuclei in the medulla oblongata regulate autonomic nervous system output to the cardiovascular system and control respiration.
case 41 brain injury: What is decerebrate posture?
A posture in which the arms are extended and the fingers flexed. It indicates damage to the brainstem and results from the removal of all inhibitory descending inputs onto the spinal cord alpha motor neurons.
case 41 brain injury: What gives one 3 on the Glasgow Coma scale? That plus pupils fixed and dilated is indicative of what? (Provided it is not a possibly reversible trauma or swelling).
A complete lack of function (function of eyes, response to verbal commands, and motor function). The absence of pupillary reaction to light (pupils fixed) and dilation indicate loss of function of the optic nerve, the oculomotor nerve or the brainstem. The combination of Glasgow coma score of 3 and pupils fixed and dilated is indicative of brain death.
case 41 brain injury: Fracture of his temporal bone likely caused what sequence resulting in damage to the brain stem?
The fracture of temporal bone produced a tear in the middle meninges artery of the dura. The arterial hemorrhage can produce an epidural hematoma that expands rapidly. This can result in herniation of the temporal lobes, resulting in pressure on the brain stem and its arterial supply and in damage to the brain stem.
case 41 brain injury: What are the neurons that comprise the ascending reticular activating system (ARAS or just RAS)?
Interspersed among the tracts and nuclei of the brainstem are neurons that collectively are known as the ascending reticular activating system.
case 41 brain injury: What does decerebrate posture indicate and what does it result from?
Decerebrate posture indicates damage to the brain stem and results from the removal of all inhibitory descending inputs onto the spinal cord alpha motor neurons.
case 42 hemianopsia: Which nerves (nasal or temporal) cross to contralateral at the optic tract? Which one remains ipsilateral?
Nerve from nasal side cross to contralateral optic tract and the temporal remain ipsilateral optic tract.
case 42 hemianopsia: What would a defect in both nasal and temporal visual fields of one eye indicate and why
A defect in both the nasal and temporal visual fiends of one eye indicates that the damage occurred in the optic nerve before the optic chiasm, because that is the only time those fibers travel I nthe same structure.
case 42 hemianopsia: What in the visual defect that people with bitemporal hemianopsia experience? Which part of the optic tract does this indicate a problem in?
Loss of vision in temporal side (peripheral vision) of both sides and is indicative of the optic chiasm (between the optic chiasm and the visual cortex).
case 42 hemianopsia: What does the MRI show and how does it explain the patient’s condition?
A tumor that compresses the optic chiasm. It was an intervenal tumor. The most common is a prolactin-secreting tumor (pituitary tumor)
case 42 hemianopsia: What is the pathway of visual sensory information to the brain?
Retina, optic chiasm, thalamus, lateral geniculate nucleus, primary visual cortex, occipital lobe
case 42 hemianopsia: In what specific way might his visual problem contribute to his having an accident
Loss of peripheral vision prevented the patient from noticing another car in the intersection
case 42 hemianopsia: Can you think of possible contributing factors to his accident besides the visual problem?
The lunesta may have been taken prior to the accident, making the patient fatigued.
case 42 hemianopsia: What is the Goldman field examination and what does it show in his case?
The Goldman field examination involves testing peripheral vision by moving a ray of light from the center to the perimeter.
case 42 hemianopsia: What does the MRI show?
The MRI shows a pituitary gland compressing the optic chiasm.
case 42 hemianopsia: Is bitemporal hemianopsia a homologous or heterozygous deficit? Explain
It is a heteronymous deficit. The visual fields in each eye are different.
case 42 hemianopsia: A deficit affecting one eye can be a problem where?
Localization of the deficit to the visual field of only one eye indicates a problem with the retinal receptors or the optic nerve of that eye.
case 42 hemianopsia: A deficit affecting the chiasm causes what kind of deficit of which fibers?
Loss of vision on temporal sides of the visual fields of both eyes is indicative of a problem at the optic chiasm
case 42 hemianopsia: Complete deficits of the right or left visual field indicates damage where?
Complete defects in the left or right visual space indicate damage to the nerves between the optic chiasm and the visual cortex. These defects can be in the optic tract, in the lateral geniculate body of the thalamus, in the optic radiation or within the visual cortex
case 45 epilepsy What are the patient’s symptoms tied to?
The patient suffered a head injury while playing sports 6 months earlier
case 45 epilepsy What is the slowest brain wave? Which waves are associated with emotional stress?
High amplitude delta waves (occur during slow wave sleep). Theta waves are associated with emotional stress
case 45 epilepsy: What does the abnormal neural activity associated with epilepsy cause?
Epilepsy results from the excessive activity in clusters of neurons. It causes strange sensations, emotions and behaviors, possibly causing muscle spasms and loss of consciousness
case 45 epilepsy: What is the difference between partial and generalized seizures?
Partial seizures are localized to just one area of the brain and rarely result in the loss of consciousness. Generalized seizures involve all areas of the brain, creating large amplitude and often repetitive Bain wave activity.