Didactic Year Random Notes

Question 1

a primitive reflex elicited by repetitive tapping on the forehead; subjects blink in response to the first several taps

Answer 1

glabellar relex

Question 2

if the blinking elicited via the glabellar reflex doesn’t stop, what sign is this called?

Answer 2

myerson’s sign - it is often an early sign of dementia and a symptom of parkinson’s dz

Question 3

what is the treatment for patients with pel ebstein fever? (seen in pts with hodgkin’s)

Answer 3

NSAID

Question 4

this syndrome is defined as adrenal failure due to bleeding into the adrenal glands

Answer 4

waterhouse-friderichsen syndrome - caused by severe bacterial infection (most commonly the meningococcus Neisseria meningitidis

Question 5

what are the two major factors affecting the pulse pressure?

Answer 5

stroke volume output of the heart and compliance (total distensibility) of the arterial tree

Question 6

what does old age do to pressure?

Answer 6

it increases pulse pressure b/c old age creates vessels that are less compliant b/c they are stiff/NOT NARROW (THINK: atherosclerosis and hardening of blood vessels)

Question 7

how does aortic stenosis affect pulse pressure?

Answer 7

reduces it

Question 8

why is it that aortic diastolic pressure decreases when compliance decreases?

Answer 8

In normal arteries, when blood is pumped from the heart, the arteries expand (increase in diameter) due to elasticity and “store” some blood and during diastole, the recoil of the arteries pushes the stored blood through the circulatory tree to give the diastolic pressure. When the compliance decreases, this capacity to “store” blood decreases and thus, the diastolic pressure decreases also.

Question 9

is it during inspiration or expiration that you hear the split in S2 heart sound?

Answer 9

inspiration.