NURS 640 UPDATED COMPREHENSIVE EXAM
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Bronchial obstruction - ✔✔Caused by retained pulmonary secretion, aspiration,
foreign bodies, bronchomalacia, bronchogenic carcinoma, compression by extrinsic
masses and tumors metastatic to the airway.
Clinical and radiographic findings vary depending on the location of the obstruction and
the degree of airway narrowing.
Symptoms - dyspnea, cough, wheezing, and if infection present, fever and chills.
Hx of recurrent pneumonia in the same lobe or segment or slow resolution (more than 3
months) of pneumonia on successive radiographs suggests the possibility of bronchial
obstruction and the need for bronchoscopy.
✔✔Atelectasis - ✔✔local parenchymal collapse, postobstructive infiltrates, and air
trapping caused by unidirectional expiratory obstruction.
Bronchoscopy is the definite diagnostic study particularly if tumor or foreign body
aspiration is noted.
The findings of bronchial breath sounds on physical examination or an air bronchogram
on chest radiograph in an area of atelectasis rules out complete airway obstruction.
Bronchoscopy is unlikely to be therapeutic benefit in this situation.
✔✔Obstructive Lung Disease - ✔✔its characteristic narrowing of pulmonary airways
hinder a person's ability to completely expel air from the lungs. The practical result is
that by the end of every breath, quite a bit of air remains in the lungs.
, ✔✔Bronchiectasis - ✔✔Congenital or acquires disorder of the large bronchi
characterized by permanent, abnormal dilation and destruction of the bronchial walls
✔✔Bronchiolitis - ✔✔Generic term applied to varied inflammatory processes that affect
the bronchioles (examples include acute, constrictive, proliferative, cryptogenic
organizing pneumonitis, follicular, respiratory, and diffuse bronchiolitis
✔✔Cystic Fibrosis - ✔✔Autosomal-recessive disorder caused by abnormalities in a
membrane chloride channel (CFTR protein) that results in altered chloride transport and
water flux across the apical surface of epithelial cells. Almost all exocrine glands
produce an abnormal mucus that obstructs glands and ducts and leads to tissue
damage. In the respiratory tract, inadequate hydration of the tracheobronchial
epithelium impairs mucociliary function. High concentration of extracellular DNA in
airway secretions (due to chronic airway inflammation and autolysis of neutrophils)
increases sputum viscosity
✔✔Restrictive Lung Disease - ✔✔People suffering from restrictive lung disease have a
hard time fully expanding their lungs when they inhale. That is, it's more difficult to fill
lungs with air. This is a result of the lungs being restricted from fully expanding. This can
occur when tissue in the chest wall becomes stiffened, or due to weakened muscles or
damaged nerves. Any of these factors can restrict the expansion of the lungs. Some of
the conditions classified as restrictive lung disease include
✔✔Interstitial lung disease - ✔✔umbrella term used to categorize over 100 different
types of pulmonary disorders that affect the absorption of oxygen into the lungs. It
includes a diverse collection of illnesses with a variety of causes, treatments and
prognoses. Individuals who suffer from interstitial lung disease often have difficulty
breathing and moving from place to place due to a consistent feeling of shortness of
breath. Disorders classified under interstitial lung disease are often characterized by
scarring of the lung's delicate tissues and a dry, pestering cough.
There are a variety of causes of interstitial lung disease that range in diversity.
However, interstitial lung disease may also develop without a known cause, and in that
case it is known as idiopathic. The most common form of idiopathic interstitial lung
disease is pulmonary fibrosis.
✔✔Sarcoidosis - ✔✔Systemic diseases of unknown etiology characterized in about
90% of patients by granulomatous inflammation of the lungs. Incidence highest in North
American blacks (women more than men), onset of disease in usually in third or fourth
decade (p 293)
Neuromuscular disease, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Pulmonary fibrosis
Asbestosis: Nodular interstitial fibrosis occurring in workers exposed to asbestos fibers
(shipyard and construction workers, pipe fitters, insulators) over many years (10-20)
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Bronchial obstruction - ✔✔Caused by retained pulmonary secretion, aspiration,
foreign bodies, bronchomalacia, bronchogenic carcinoma, compression by extrinsic
masses and tumors metastatic to the airway.
Clinical and radiographic findings vary depending on the location of the obstruction and
the degree of airway narrowing.
Symptoms - dyspnea, cough, wheezing, and if infection present, fever and chills.
Hx of recurrent pneumonia in the same lobe or segment or slow resolution (more than 3
months) of pneumonia on successive radiographs suggests the possibility of bronchial
obstruction and the need for bronchoscopy.
✔✔Atelectasis - ✔✔local parenchymal collapse, postobstructive infiltrates, and air
trapping caused by unidirectional expiratory obstruction.
Bronchoscopy is the definite diagnostic study particularly if tumor or foreign body
aspiration is noted.
The findings of bronchial breath sounds on physical examination or an air bronchogram
on chest radiograph in an area of atelectasis rules out complete airway obstruction.
Bronchoscopy is unlikely to be therapeutic benefit in this situation.
✔✔Obstructive Lung Disease - ✔✔its characteristic narrowing of pulmonary airways
hinder a person's ability to completely expel air from the lungs. The practical result is
that by the end of every breath, quite a bit of air remains in the lungs.
, ✔✔Bronchiectasis - ✔✔Congenital or acquires disorder of the large bronchi
characterized by permanent, abnormal dilation and destruction of the bronchial walls
✔✔Bronchiolitis - ✔✔Generic term applied to varied inflammatory processes that affect
the bronchioles (examples include acute, constrictive, proliferative, cryptogenic
organizing pneumonitis, follicular, respiratory, and diffuse bronchiolitis
✔✔Cystic Fibrosis - ✔✔Autosomal-recessive disorder caused by abnormalities in a
membrane chloride channel (CFTR protein) that results in altered chloride transport and
water flux across the apical surface of epithelial cells. Almost all exocrine glands
produce an abnormal mucus that obstructs glands and ducts and leads to tissue
damage. In the respiratory tract, inadequate hydration of the tracheobronchial
epithelium impairs mucociliary function. High concentration of extracellular DNA in
airway secretions (due to chronic airway inflammation and autolysis of neutrophils)
increases sputum viscosity
✔✔Restrictive Lung Disease - ✔✔People suffering from restrictive lung disease have a
hard time fully expanding their lungs when they inhale. That is, it's more difficult to fill
lungs with air. This is a result of the lungs being restricted from fully expanding. This can
occur when tissue in the chest wall becomes stiffened, or due to weakened muscles or
damaged nerves. Any of these factors can restrict the expansion of the lungs. Some of
the conditions classified as restrictive lung disease include
✔✔Interstitial lung disease - ✔✔umbrella term used to categorize over 100 different
types of pulmonary disorders that affect the absorption of oxygen into the lungs. It
includes a diverse collection of illnesses with a variety of causes, treatments and
prognoses. Individuals who suffer from interstitial lung disease often have difficulty
breathing and moving from place to place due to a consistent feeling of shortness of
breath. Disorders classified under interstitial lung disease are often characterized by
scarring of the lung's delicate tissues and a dry, pestering cough.
There are a variety of causes of interstitial lung disease that range in diversity.
However, interstitial lung disease may also develop without a known cause, and in that
case it is known as idiopathic. The most common form of idiopathic interstitial lung
disease is pulmonary fibrosis.
✔✔Sarcoidosis - ✔✔Systemic diseases of unknown etiology characterized in about
90% of patients by granulomatous inflammation of the lungs. Incidence highest in North
American blacks (women more than men), onset of disease in usually in third or fourth
decade (p 293)
Neuromuscular disease, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
Pulmonary fibrosis
Asbestosis: Nodular interstitial fibrosis occurring in workers exposed to asbestos fibers
(shipyard and construction workers, pipe fitters, insulators) over many years (10-20)
