A patient presents with ear pain. She is an avid swimmer. The history includes pain and drainage from the left ear. On examination, she has pain when the ear is manipulated, including manipulation of the tragus. The canal is narrowed and erythematous, with some white debris in the canal. The rest of the examination is normal. What diagnosis would you assign this patient?

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Jarvis Physical Examination and Health Assessment Practice Questions Questions

Question 1 of 5

A patient presents with ear pain. She is an avid swimmer. The history includes pain and drainage from the left ear. On examination, she has pain when the ear is manipulated, including manipulation of the tragus. The canal is narrowed and erythematous, with some white debris in the canal. The rest of the examination is normal. What diagnosis would you assign this patient?

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The patient's history of swimming and presenting symptoms of ear pain, drainage, and manipulation tenderness are suggestive of external otitis, commonly known as swimmer's ear. External otitis is an infection of the outer ear canal, which can be caused by prolonged moisture exposure, trauma, or bacterial/fungal infections. The narrowed and erythematous canal with white debris is characteristic of this condition. Otitis media (Choice A) typically presents with deep ear pain, hearing loss, and sometimes fever, but does not involve the ear canal. Perforation of the tympanum (Choice C) would present with sudden relief of pain and possible drainage from the ear. Cholesteatoma (Choice D) is characterized by a painless cyst or mass in the middle ear, not presenting with these acute ear canal symptoms.

Question 2 of 5

A patient presents with ear pain. She is an avid swimmer. The history includes pain and drainage from the left ear. On examination, she has pain when the ear is manipulated, including manipulation of the tragus. The canal is narrowed and erythematous, with some white debris in the canal. The rest of the examination is normal. What diagnosis would you assign this patient?

Correct Answer: B

Rationale: The patient's history of swimming and presenting symptoms of ear pain, drainage, and manipulation tenderness are suggestive of external otitis, commonly known as swimmer's ear. External otitis is an infection of the outer ear canal, which can be caused by prolonged moisture exposure, trauma, or bacterial/fungal infections. The narrowed and erythematous canal with white debris is characteristic of this condition. Otitis media (Choice A) typically presents with deep ear pain, hearing loss, and sometimes fever, but does not involve the ear canal. Perforation of the tympanum (Choice C) would present with sudden relief of pain and possible drainage from the ear. Cholesteatoma (Choice D) is characterized by a painless cyst or mass in the middle ear, not presenting with these acute ear canal symptoms.

Question 3 of 5

A young woman comes to you with a cut on her finger caused by the lid of a can she was opening. She is pacing about the room, crying loudly, and through her sobs she says, "My career as a pianist is finished!" Which personality type exhibits these features?

Correct Answer: C

Rationale: The young woman in this scenario is exhibiting characteristics of histrionic personality disorder. Individuals with histrionic personality disorder tend to be overly dramatic, attention-seeking, and have a tendency to be excessively emotional in their reactions. The young woman's exaggerated response to a minor cut on her finger, along with her dramatic declaration that her career as a pianist is over, reflects the emotional and attention-seeking behaviors commonly associated with histrionic personality traits.

Question 4 of 5

A 29-year-old computer programmer comes to your office for evaluation of a headache. The tightening sensation is located all over the head and is of moderate intensity. It used to last minutes, but this time it has lasted for 5 days. He denies photophobia and nausea. He spends several hours each day at a computer monitor/keyboard. He has tried over-the-counter medication; it has dulled the pain but not taken it away. Based on this description, what is your most likely diagnosis?

Correct Answer: A

Rationale: The description provided fits the criteria for tension-type headache. Tension-type headaches are typically described as a mild to moderate, dull, band-like pressure or tightness around the head. They can last from minutes to days and are often triggered by stress, anxiety, poor posture, or prolonged computer use. The absence of symptoms like photophobia and nausea, along with the response to over-the-counter medication, further support the diagnosis of tension-type headache in this case. Other headache types such as migraines or cluster headaches usually present with additional symptoms like nausea, photophobia, or tearing of the eye, which are not mentioned in this scenario. Analgesic rebound headaches typically occur in individuals who overuse pain medications, leading to worsening headaches when the medication wears off, but this patient's history does not suggest such misuse.

Question 5 of 5

You are seeing an older patient who has not had medical care for many years. Her vital signs taken by your office staff are: T 2, HR 78, BP 118/92, and RR 14, and she denies pain. You notice that she has some hypertensive changes in her retinas and you find mild proteinuria on a urine test in your office. You expected the BP to be higher. She is not on any medications. What do you think is causing this BP reading, which doesn't correlate with the other findings?

Correct Answer: D

Rationale: The most likely explanation for the discrepancy between the patient's relatively normal blood pressure reading (118/92) and the presence of hypertensive changes in her retinas and mild proteinuria is that the process causing her retinopathy and kidney problems has resolved. Hypertensive changes in the retinas and proteinuria are typically signs of chronic uncontrolled hypertension, but they can also be residual manifestations of previously uncontrolled hypertension that has now been effectively treated.

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