GI — MCQs

A 55-year-old female presents to the emergency room complaining of severe abdominal pain. She reports a six-month history of worsening dull mid-epigastric pain that she had attributed to stress at work. She has lost fifteen pounds over that time. She also reports that her stools have become bulky, foul-smelling, and greasy. Over the past few days, her abdominal pain acutely worsened and seemed to radiate to her back. She also developed mild pruritus and yellowing of her skin. Her temperature is 101°F (38.3°C), blood pressure is 145/85 mmHg, pulse is 110/min, and respirations are 20/min. On examination, her skin appears yellowed and she is tender to palpation in her mid-epigastrium and right upper quadrant. She is subsequently sent for imaging. If a mass is identified, what would be the most likely location of the mass?

A 2-year-old boy is brought in to his pediatrician for a routine checkup. The parents mention that the child has been developing appropriately, although they have been noticing that the child appears to have chronic constipation. The parents report that their child does not routinely have daily bowel movements, and they have noticed that his abdomen has become more distended recently. In the past, they report that the patient was also delayed in passing meconium, but this was not further worked up. On exam, his temperature is 98.6°F (37.0°C), blood pressure is 110/68 mmHg, pulse is 74/min, and respirations are 14/min. The patient is noted to have a slightly distended abdomen that is nontender. Eventually, this patient undergoes a biopsy. Which of the following layers most likely reveals the causative pathologic finding of this disease?

A 12-month-old boy is brought to the emergency department by his mother for several hours of crying and severe abdominal pain, followed by dark and bloody stools in the last hour. The mother reports that she did not note any vomiting or fevers leading up to this incident. She does report that the boy and his 7-year-old sister recently had “stomach bugs” but that both have been fine and that the sister has gone back to school. The boy was born by spontaneous vaginal delivery at 39 weeks and 5 days after a normal pregnancy. His temperature is 100.4°F (38.0°C), blood pressure is 96/72 mmHg, pulse is 90/min, respirations are 22/min. Which of the following was most likely to play a role in the pathogenesis of this patient’s disease?

A 57-year-old man presents with fever and yellow discoloration of the skin for the past 4 days. He denies any recent weight loss or changes in urine or stool color. His past medical history is unremarkable. He admits to drinking about 130 g/day of alcohol and says he has been doing so for the past 25 years. His wife who is accompanying him during this visit adds that once her husband drank 15 cans of beer at a funeral. The patient also reports a 10-pack-year smoking history. His vital signs include: pulse 98/min, respiratory rate 13/min, temperature 38.2°C (100.8°F) and blood pressure 120/90 mm Hg. On physical examination, the patient appears jaundiced and is ill-appearing. Sclera is icteric. Abdominal examination reveals tenderness to palpation in the right upper quadrant with no rebound or guarding. Percussion reveals significant hepatomegaly extending 3 cm below the right costal margin. Laboratory studies are significant for the following: Sodium 135 mEq/L Potassium 3.5 mEq/L ALT 240 U/L AST 500 U/L A liver biopsy is obtained but the results are pending. Which of the following would most likely be seen in this patient's biopsy?

A 30-year-old man comes to the physician because of an episode of bloody vomiting this morning and a 1-week history of burning upper abdominal pain. Two weeks ago, he sustained a head injury and was in a coma for 3 days. An endoscopy shows multiple, shallow hemorrhagic lesions predominantly in the gastric fundus and greater curvature. Biopsies show patchy loss of epithelium and an acute inflammatory infiltrate in the lamina propria that does not extend beyond the muscularis mucosa. Which of the following is the most likely diagnosis?

A 55-year-old female comes to see her doctor for a rapidly enlarging abdomen and swelling of both legs. She was hospitalized 2 weeks ago for an upper gastrointestinal bleeding episode. On that occasion, her esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed grade 1 esophageal varices and a 1 cm clean-based antral ulcer. The patient was discharged on omeprazole. Review of symptoms shows that the patient is forgetful, does not sleep well, and is drowsy and fatigued during the day which prevents her from working full-time. She denies abdominal pain. The patient has a 10-year history of type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia but no history of angina or coronary heart disease. She drank alcohol moderately heavy in her twenties and currently drinks less than 3 drinks per week and does not smoke. Her family history is unremarkable. On physical examination, her blood pressure is 132/82 mm Hg, pulse is 88/min, and her temperature is 37.0°C (98.6°F). She weighs 106.6 kg (235 lb) and her BMI is 33. She is alert, oriented to person, place, year, and month but not to the day. Her sclerae are nonicteric. Her pulmonary and cardiovascular exam are normal but her abdomen is distended with a fluid wave and mild tenderness to palpation. There is no hepatosplenomegaly. There is a 2+ edema to mid-calf and pedal pulses are barely palpable. Her neurological exam is without motor or sensory deficits but she demonstrates flapping tremor of her hands while asked to hold them in front of her for a few seconds and her skin exam shows a few spider telangiectasias on her face and upper chest. After an initial evaluation, lab tests were obtained: Serum sodium 133 mEq/L Serum potassium 3.8 mEq/L BUN 8 mg/dL Serum creatinine 1.0 mg/dL Serum albumin 2.5 mg/dL Aspartate aminotransferase 68 IU/ml Alanine aminotransferase 46 IU/ml Alkaline phosphatase 130 IU/ml Total bilirubin 1.8 mg/dL WBC count 4,200/mm3 Platelets 94,000/mm3 Hematocrit 35.5% Prothrombin time (INR) 1.5 A liver biopsy is performed and the results are pending. The hepatocytes causing her acute issue are predominantly located in which area of the hepatic lobule?

A 52-year-old Caucasian male presents to your office complaining of black, tarry stool. Which of the following possible causes of this patient's presentation is LEAST associated with the development of carcinoma?

A 25-year-old male presents to his primary care physician for fatigue, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and weight loss. He states that this issue has occurred throughout his life but seems to “flare up” on occasion. He states that his GI pain is relieved with defecation, and his stools are frequent, large, and particularly foul-smelling. The patient has a past medical history of an ACL tear, as well as a car accident that resulted in the patient needing a transfusion and epinephrine to treat transfusion anaphylaxis. His current medications include vitamin D and ibuprofen. He recently returned from a camping trip in the eastern United States. He states that on the trip they cooked packed meats over an open fire and obtained water from local streams. His temperature is 99.5°F (37.5°C), blood pressure is 120/77 mmHg, pulse is 70/min, respirations are 11/min, and oxygen saturation is 98% on room air. Physical exam reveals poor motor control and an ataxic gait on neurologic exam. Cardiac and pulmonary exams are within normal limits. Laboratory studies are ordered and return as below: Hemoglobin: 9.0 g/dL Hematocrit: 25% Haptoglobin: 12 mg/dL Leukocyte count: 7,500 cells/mm^3 with normal differential Platelet count: 255,000/mm^3 Serum: Na+: 140 mEq/L Cl-: 102 mEq/L K+: 5.0 mEq/L HCO3-: 24 mEq/L BUN: 24 mg/dL Glucose: 82 mg/dL Creatinine: 1.0 mg/dL Ca2+: 9.0 mg/dL LDH: 457 U/L AST: 11 U/L ALT: 11 U/L Radiography is ordered which reveals a stress fracture in the patient’s left tibia. Which of the following is the best confirmatory test for this patient’s condition?

A 59-year-old woman comes to the physician because of a 1-year history of nausea and chronic abdominal pain that is worse after eating. She has Hashimoto thyroiditis. She does not smoke or drink alcohol. A biopsy specimen of the corpus of the stomach shows destruction of the upper glandular layer of the gastric mucosa and G-cell hyperplasia. This patient is at greatest risk for which of the following conditions?

Two weeks after returning from vacation in Mexico, a 21-year-old man comes to the emergency department because of malaise, nausea, vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain. He has no history of serious illness and takes no medications. Physical examination shows scleral icterus and right upper quadrant tenderness. The liver is palpated 1.5 cm below the right costal margin. A biopsy specimen of this patient's liver would most likely show which of the following findings?