need help with your account or subscription? click here to email us (or see the contact page)
join telegramNEW! discord
jump to exam page:
search for anything ⋅ score predictor (โ€œpredict me!โ€)

Retired NBME 23 Answers

nbme23/Block 2/Question#37 (reveal difficulty score)
A 62-year-old woman is brought to the ...
Embolus to the femoral artery with left leg ischemia ๐Ÿ” / ๐Ÿ“บ / ๐ŸŒณ / ๐Ÿ“–
tags:

 Login (or register) to see more


 +8  upvote downvote
submitted by โˆ—paulkarr(73)
get full access to all contentpick a username

I had a pretty straight forward line of thinking for this. Cool discolored leg automatically rules out problems elsewhere (all the brain related choices). We know blood has been cut off to the left foot. Specifically, there is an embolus in the arterial blood supply. (Venous would lead to a warm foot)

If you take into account the acute episodes of palpitations, it is plausible to think that she had some sort of A-Fib triggering a blood clot to break off and be sent through the systemic circulation. It then got lodged in the femoral artery cutting off poor g-ma's blood.

get full access to all contentpick a username
an1  how would it appear if it were brain related? just a total loss of motor? or are there any visual signs. and why is arterial discoloured? +



 +5  upvote downvote
submitted by โˆ—imnotarobotbut(184)
get full access to all contentpick a username

Cool, discolored foot with tingling and numbness = blood clot. Cardiac symptoms may indicate that she has some sort of thrombotic disease. The wording of the answer choice isn't great, but none of the other answer choices fit.

get full access to all contentpick a username



Must-See Comments from nbme23

ferrero on Precapillary resistance
yotsubato on 99%
sne on Triglyceride
sajaqua1 on Area labeled โ€˜Dโ€™ (Spinothalamic tract, right)
stinkysulfaeggs on Hypoglycemia
hayayah on Iris
soph on Peak inspiratory pressure (alveolar): ...
seagull on Area labeled โ€˜Cโ€™ (Cranial nerve 8: ...
water on Dietary change
wired-in on 28.8
beeip on Binding of permeable ligand to nuclear ...
thomasalterman on Hypoglycemia
yotsubato on Inhibition of the cytochrome P450-dependent ...
seagull on Decreased sodium bicarbonate reabsorption in ...

search for anything NEW!