Rationales from the December 4 Email

QUESTION ONE: The correct answer is C. Cushing’s triad is a set of three vital signs associated with severe intracranial pressure and includes bradycardia (instead of tachycardia), bradypnea (instead of tachypnea), hypertension (instead of hypotension) and a widened pulse pressure (instead of a narrow pulse pressure).

QUESTION TWO: The correct answer is B. Orbital fractures may cause ocular entrapment. One sign of ocular entrapment is diplopia. A hyphema is more likely to cause a reddish hue to the vision and intense eye pain. A basilar skull fracture is more likely to cause bleeding from the ears or nose or cerebrospinal fluid leakage from the ears or nose. A subconjunctival hemorrhage is associated with blood in the conjunctiva but does not cause diplopia.

QUESTION THREE: The correct answer is B. Scarlet fever is a form of strep throat, caused by a streptococcal bacterium which responds to antibiotics. Ringworm is a fungal infection, treated by anti-fungal medications. Fifth disease as well as hand, foot and mouth disease are viral and are treated with supportive therapy.