ATI RN
Pediatric Neurology Question Bank Questions
Question 1 of 5
A 7-year-old with poor dentition has persistent frontal headaches, fever, and irritability for 5 weeks. Lumbar puncture shows opening pressure 250 mm Hg, WBC 120 (75% leukocytes), glucose 80 mg/dL, protein 95 mg/dL, negative Gram stain and culture. The next appropriate step is
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: CSF culture for tuberculosis is the next step for subacute frontal headaches, fever, and irritability with elevated CSF pressure (250 mm Hg), pleocytosis (120 WBC, 75% leukocytes), normal glucose (80 mg/dL), and elevated protein (95 mg/dL), negative for bacteria. This suggests tuberculous meningitis, common with chronic symptoms and dental/sinus spread. Cryptococcal antigen fits immunocompromised patients, less likely here. EEG assessseizures, not present. CT or dental consult may follow but miss CSF-specific diagnosis. TB culturspecificity, per IDSA guidelines, makes A the correct answer.
Question 2 of 5
Landau-Kleffner syndrome is characterized by all of the following EXCEPT
Correct Answer: B
Rationale: Landau-Kleffner syndrome (LKS) involvonset around 3-7 years , acquired aphasia , normal hearing , and multiple seizur, but is more common in boys, not girls . This rare epilepsy disrupts language via temporal lobe discharges. Gender prevalence (boys > girls, ~2:1) per literature contrasts with more common in girls, making B the exception and correct answer, aligning with epidemiologic data.
Question 3 of 5
Neurofibromatosis type I, an autosomal dominant disorder (gene on chromosome 17), is defined by six or more café au lait maculover 5 mm in prepubertal or greater than 15 mm in postpubertal children plus at least one of the following EXCEPT
Correct Answer: D
Rationale: NF1 diagnostic criteria (NIH) include café au lait maculplus freckling , Lisch nodul, neurofibromas , osseous lesions , optic gliomas , or family history . Ash leaf maculare hypopigmented spots in tuberous sclerosis, not NF1. This phenotypic distinction makes D the exception and correct answer.
Question 4 of 5
The MOST common cause of static neurologic abnormalitiwhich are observed early in life is
Correct Answer: A
Rationale: Cerebral palsy is the most common cause of static neurologic abnormalitiin early life, per CDC, affecting ~1-4 per 1,000 births. It results from prenatal/perinatal brain injury (e.g., hypoxia), causing non-progressive motor deficits like spasticity or ataxia. Demyelinating and autoimmune diseas(e.g., MS) are progressive or relapsing, rare in infancy. Vascular diseasand stroke cause acute, not static, deficits. CPs early onset, stability, and prevalence rooted in fixed lesions make A the correct answer, distinct from evolving pathologies.
Question 5 of 5
During clinical examination of an infant you suspended his face down by the chest when he is moved toward a table, the arms extend, this reflex appear at
Correct Answer: C
Rationale: The parachute reflex appears at 4-6 months , per developmental milestones, when an infant extends arms protectively when lowered face-down, reflecting vestibular and motor integration. Absent at birth , it emerglater than Moro (E, birth) and persists lifelong. 2-4 months is too early; 6-8 or 8-10 too late for onset. This reflexs timing, per AAP, makes C the correct answer.