Download Perplexing Pulmonary Problems

Perplexing Pulmonary Problems
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1. Barbara is rushed to the emergency room after an auto accident. The 8th through 10th ribs on her left side
have been fractured and have punctured the lung.
a. What term is used to indicate lung collapse?
b. Will both lungs collapse?
c. Why or why not?
2. A young boy is diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. What effect will this have on his respiratory system?
3. Len LaBosco, a medical student, has recently moved to Mexico City for his internship. As he examines the
lab report of his first patient, he notices that the RBC count is high.
a. Why is this normal for this patient? (Hint: Mexico City is located on a high-altitude mesa.).
b. What respiratory adjustments will Len have to make to his own ventilation?
c. minute respiratory volume?
d. arterial PO2?
e. hemoglobin saturation level?
4. A mother, obviously in a panic, brings her infant who is feverish, hyperventilating, and cyanotic to the clinic.
The infant is quickly diagnosed with pneumonia. What aspect of pneumonia has caused the cyanosis?
5. After a long bout of bronchitis, Mrs. Dupre complains of a stabbing pain in her side with each breath. I
addition she reports that she hears what she describes as a “gurgling” sound in her chest wall with each
breath. What is her condition called?
6. A patient with congestive heart failure has cyanosis coupled with liver and kidney failure. What type of
hypoxia is this?
7. The Kozloski family is taking a long auto trip. Michael, who has been riding in the back of the station
wagon, complains of a throbbing headache. Then a little later, he seems confused and his face is flushed
(bright pink). What is your diagnosis of Micheal’s problem?
8. A new mother checks on her sleeping infant, only to find that he has stopped breathing and is turning blue.
The mother quickly picks up the baby and pats it on the back until it starts to beathe. What tragedy has been
overted?
9. A young man visiting his father in the hospital hears the clinical stagg refer to the patient in the next bed as a
“pink puffer”. He notes the pateint’s barrel-shaped chest and wonders what the man’s problem is.
a. What is the patient’s diagnosis?
b. Why is he called a “pink puffer”?
10. Joanne Willis, a long-time smoker, is complaining that she has developed a persistent cough.
a. What is your first guess as to her condition?
b. What has happened to her bronchial cilia?
11. As a result of a stroke, the swallowing mechanism in an elderly woman is uncoordinated. What effect might
this have on her respiratory system?
12. While diapering his 1-year-old son (who puts almost everything in his mouth), Mr. Gregoire failed to find
one of the small safety pins previously used. Two days later, his son developed a cough and became
feverish.
a. What probably has happened to the safety pin?
b. Where (anatomically) would you expect to find it?
13. A deep sea expedition is being planned. Why is the location of the nearest hyperbaric chamber critically
important?
14. Why is it advantageous that fetal hemoglobin has a higher affinity for oxygen than has maternal
hemoglobin?
15. Two girls in a high school cafeteria were giggling over lunch, and both accidentally sprayed milk our their
nostrils at the same time. Explain in anatomical terms why swallowed fluids can sometime come out the
nose.
16. A boy in the same cafeteria then stood on his head and showed he could drink milk upside down without
any of it entering his nasal cavity or nose. What prevented the mild from flowing downward into his nose?
17. The cilia lining the upper respiratory passages (superior to the larynx) beat inferiorly while the cilia lining
the lower respiratory passages (larynx and below) beat superiorly. What is the functional “reason” for this
difference?
18. A man was choking on a piece of meat and no one was around to offer help. He say a horizontal railing in
his house that ran just above the level of his navel. He hurled himself against the railing in an attempt to
perform the Heimlich maneuver on himself. Use logic to deduce whether this was a wise move that might
save the man’s life.