Doctor Detective
The likely diagnosis for a 85 y/o patient who presents with fever, productive cough, and pleuritic chest pain, with crackles on auscultation of the right lung with your stethoscope.
What is pneumonia? (Streptococcus pneumoniae)
This routine blood test gives you information about red cells, white cells, and platelets.
What is a CBC (complete blood count)?
Antibiotics kill viruses.
What is fiction? (Antibiotics target bacteria, not viruses.)
Your next consultation for a patient who develops chest pain and new ST elevations.
What is a Cardiology consult?
The number of chambers in the human heart.
What is four?
The likely diagnosis for a 10 y/o child presenting with sudden onset sore throat, fever, and headache, with tonsillar exudates and anterior cervical lymphadenopathy on examination, but no cough.
What is strep throat? (streptococcal pharyngitis)
Your patient says they don’t want any imaging studies using radiation. You explain there are two major imaging types that don’t use radiation: ultrasound and ___.
What is MRI (magnetic resonance imaging)?
Cracking your knuckles causes arthritis.
What is fiction? (Multiple studies show no link; the sound is from gas bubbles in the joint fluid.)
Your consultation to guide management for a patient with chronic kidney disease who now has severe anemia and metabolic acidosis.
What is Nephrology?
The color of blood inside your veins.
What is red? (darker than arteries due to less oxygen).
The likely diagnosis for a 58 y/o man who presents with sudden-onset, crushing retrosternal chest pain radiating to his left arm, associated with diaphoresis and nausea. EKG shows ST-segment elevation in leads II, and III.
What is a heart attack/STEMI (ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction)?
The imaging test you order for suspected deep vein thrombosis (clot) in a patient with unilateral leg swelling.
What is a venous ultrasound?
The left lung is smaller than the right.
What is fact? (The left lung needs room for the heart, has two lobes vs. three on the right.)
Your next consultation for a patient with persistent fever of unclear source after 5 days.
What is an Infectious Diseases consult?
The organ that can regenerate itself after partial removal.
What is the liver?
The likely diagnosis for a patient who collapsed after a long run and has dark urine.
What is rhabdomyolysis? (breakdown of skeletal muscle)
A test you would order to check long-term glucose control in a patient with diabetes.
What is Hemoglobin A1c?
You can have dangerously high blood pressure without any symptoms.
What is fact? (Hypertension is often called the “silent killer.”)
Your next consultation for a terminal patient with worsening uncontrolled pain.
What is a Palliative Care consult?
The first disease to be eradicated from Earth.
What is smallpox (variola virus)?
The likely diagnosis for a patient who presents with increased thirst, frequent urination, and unexplained weight loss over the past few weeks who appears dehydrated, with lab tests that reveal hyperglycemia with ketones in the urine.
What is Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus?
The test you would order to diagnose bacterial overgrowth in a patient with chronic diarrhea and steatorrhea (fat in the stool)?
What is a hydrogen breath test?
Fingernails grow faster on your dominant hand.
What is fact? (Likely due to increased blood flow from use of dominant hand.)
Your next consult for a ventilated patient whose family is in conflict regarding their code status.
What is an Ethics consult?
The only bone in the human body that doesn’t articulate with another bone.
What is the hyoid bone?