1
ABSITE CRITICAL CARE EXAM 2025 ACTUAL EXAM
COMPLETE QUESTIONS WITH DETAILED VERIFIED
ANSWERS (100% CORRECT ANSWERS) /ALREADY
GRADED A+ // BRAND NEW!!
All are potential causes of cardiogenic shock except:
- Myocardial infarction.
- Pericardial tamponade.
- Tension pneumothorax.
- Cardiac arrhythmias.
- Excessive preload. - (answers)Excessive preload.
(Excessive preload is typically not a cause of cardiogenic shock, but is a result of
cardiogenic shock.)
A 60-year-old man has an arterial PO of 60 mm Hg when the calculated alveolar
PO is 94 mm Hg. This difference is most commonly due to - (answers)a
ventilation-perfusion mismatch
oxygen delivery and consumption - (answers)- Under normal circumstances,
approximately 20% to 30% of the oxygen delivered to the capillary bed is
extracted by the tissues.
- In conditions of decreased delivery of oxygen, tissues are capable of
extracting up to 50% to 60% of the oxygen content in the capillary blood.
- When cellular oxygen supply does not meet demand, anaerobic respiration
results.
(The variables in the equation for the delivery of oxygen are cardiac output,
hemoglobin level, oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, and the partial pressure of
oxygen dissolved in blood. Increases in the first three variables all yield
significant increases in the total amount of oxygen carried by blood. The partial
, 2
pressure of oxygen is multiplied by a factor of 0.003, however, and therefore
has a miniscule contribution to the total oxygen content.)
Dopamine at doses of 5 to 10 μg/kg/min - (answers)has a largely inotropic
action profile
(Dopamine has a dose-dependent action profile. At 3 to 5 μg/kg/min, its
actions are largely to increase renal blood flow. At doses of 5 to 10 μg/kg/min,
it largely acts to stimulate myocardial β receptors and has an inotropic effect.
At doses greater than 10 μg/kg/min, it stimulates α receptors and has a
chronotropic effect.)
As oxygen delivery increases on the flat horizontal portion of the oxygen
consumption-delivery curve - (answers)Oxygen consumption remains the same
(On the flat horizontal portion of the oxygen consumption-delivery curve,
oxygen delivery meets cellular demand of oxygen; as oxygen delivery increases,
oxygen consumption remains the same.)
Most disorganized ventricular arrhythmias (frequent PVCs, ventricular
fibrillation) are caused by - (answers)Metabolic derangements.
(Most disorganized ventricular arrhythmias are caused by some sort of
metabolic derangement such as ischemia or magnesium or potassium
deficiencies. These abnormalities are not well treated by antiarrhythmic
medications.)
The best management for a patient with a posterior knee dislocation -
(answers)Arteriogram.
(The patient may have fairly normal pulses and still have an intimal injury of the
popliteal artery that is similar to the intimal disruption that can be seen in
aortic isthmus injury.)
, 3
the possible etiologies of multiorgan failure - (answers)- Anticytokine
antibodies have shown therapeutic promise in animal studies.
- Evidence has shown that intestinal mucosa is made permeable by sepsis.
- The "two-hit" hypothesis postulates that after mounting an appropriate
response to some physiologic insult, the patient is left with a primed immune
system which manifests an exaggerated immune response to a second
challenge.
- The early stages after injury actually appear to consist of an immediate
proinflammatory state as the organism tries to address the physiologic insult.
When properly modulated, this is an appropriate function. When
overexpressed, this proinflammatory state leads to the systemic inflammatory
response syndrome. Later, anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive
mechanisms are brought into play to bring the organism back to homeostasis.
If overmanifested, they can lead to a relative generalized immunosuppression
and late incidents of sepsis or multiorgan failure.
compensatory mechanisms in shock - (answers)Antidiuretic hormone causes
the reabsorption of free water by the kidney and has vasoconstrictive
properties.
(Antidiuretic hormone is released from the posterior pituitary where it
stimulates free water retention by the kidney and acts as a powerful
vasoconstrictor.)
A 71-year-old man with colon cancer is in the intensive care unit following a left
hemicolectomy. His blood pressure is 72/38 mm Hg, pulse rate is 114/min,
respiratory rate is 23/min, and oxygen saturation is 94% on 2 L of oxygen by
nasal cannulae. A pulmonary artery catheter shows a central venous pressure
of 8 cm H O, a pulmonary artery pressure of 22/8 mm Hg, a pulmonary artery
wedge pressure of 6 mm Hg, and a cardiac output of 3.4 L/min. The next step
in management should be the intravenous administration of - (answers)a fluid
bolus
, 4
pulmonary artery catheters - (answers)Allow accurate approximation of left
atrial pressure.
The magnitude of a left-to-right shunt in the presence of an ASD is determined
by - (answers)Difference in compliance between left and right ventricles.
(The blood will tend to fill the more compliant ventricle which will usually be
the right, until chronic pulmonary hypertension yields right ventricular
hypertrophy.)
Compared to conventional ventilation (endotracheal intubation), noninvasive
ventilation (mask, continuous positive airway pressure) is -
(answers)contraindicated in hemodynamically unstable patients
According to the American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care
Medicine Consensus Conference, which of the following are not part of the
diagnostic criteria for sepsis? - (answers)Hypotension defined as a systolic
blood pressure less than 90 mm Hg.
(Sepsis is defined as bacteriologic evidence of infection superimposed on a
clinical picture of SIRS. According to the ACCP/SCCM, by definition these
patients are hemodynamically stable. If they should become hemodynamically
unstable (defined as a systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg), the name for the
condition changes to "severe sepsis.")
SIRS - (answers)- Temperature greater than 38°C or less than 36°C.
- Heart rate greater than 90 bpm.
- Respiratory rate greater than 22 bpm
- White blood cell count greater than 12,000 or less than 4,000 and greater
than 10% bands.
ABSITE CRITICAL CARE EXAM 2025 ACTUAL EXAM
COMPLETE QUESTIONS WITH DETAILED VERIFIED
ANSWERS (100% CORRECT ANSWERS) /ALREADY
GRADED A+ // BRAND NEW!!
All are potential causes of cardiogenic shock except:
- Myocardial infarction.
- Pericardial tamponade.
- Tension pneumothorax.
- Cardiac arrhythmias.
- Excessive preload. - (answers)Excessive preload.
(Excessive preload is typically not a cause of cardiogenic shock, but is a result of
cardiogenic shock.)
A 60-year-old man has an arterial PO of 60 mm Hg when the calculated alveolar
PO is 94 mm Hg. This difference is most commonly due to - (answers)a
ventilation-perfusion mismatch
oxygen delivery and consumption - (answers)- Under normal circumstances,
approximately 20% to 30% of the oxygen delivered to the capillary bed is
extracted by the tissues.
- In conditions of decreased delivery of oxygen, tissues are capable of
extracting up to 50% to 60% of the oxygen content in the capillary blood.
- When cellular oxygen supply does not meet demand, anaerobic respiration
results.
(The variables in the equation for the delivery of oxygen are cardiac output,
hemoglobin level, oxygen saturation of hemoglobin, and the partial pressure of
oxygen dissolved in blood. Increases in the first three variables all yield
significant increases in the total amount of oxygen carried by blood. The partial
, 2
pressure of oxygen is multiplied by a factor of 0.003, however, and therefore
has a miniscule contribution to the total oxygen content.)
Dopamine at doses of 5 to 10 μg/kg/min - (answers)has a largely inotropic
action profile
(Dopamine has a dose-dependent action profile. At 3 to 5 μg/kg/min, its
actions are largely to increase renal blood flow. At doses of 5 to 10 μg/kg/min,
it largely acts to stimulate myocardial β receptors and has an inotropic effect.
At doses greater than 10 μg/kg/min, it stimulates α receptors and has a
chronotropic effect.)
As oxygen delivery increases on the flat horizontal portion of the oxygen
consumption-delivery curve - (answers)Oxygen consumption remains the same
(On the flat horizontal portion of the oxygen consumption-delivery curve,
oxygen delivery meets cellular demand of oxygen; as oxygen delivery increases,
oxygen consumption remains the same.)
Most disorganized ventricular arrhythmias (frequent PVCs, ventricular
fibrillation) are caused by - (answers)Metabolic derangements.
(Most disorganized ventricular arrhythmias are caused by some sort of
metabolic derangement such as ischemia or magnesium or potassium
deficiencies. These abnormalities are not well treated by antiarrhythmic
medications.)
The best management for a patient with a posterior knee dislocation -
(answers)Arteriogram.
(The patient may have fairly normal pulses and still have an intimal injury of the
popliteal artery that is similar to the intimal disruption that can be seen in
aortic isthmus injury.)
, 3
the possible etiologies of multiorgan failure - (answers)- Anticytokine
antibodies have shown therapeutic promise in animal studies.
- Evidence has shown that intestinal mucosa is made permeable by sepsis.
- The "two-hit" hypothesis postulates that after mounting an appropriate
response to some physiologic insult, the patient is left with a primed immune
system which manifests an exaggerated immune response to a second
challenge.
- The early stages after injury actually appear to consist of an immediate
proinflammatory state as the organism tries to address the physiologic insult.
When properly modulated, this is an appropriate function. When
overexpressed, this proinflammatory state leads to the systemic inflammatory
response syndrome. Later, anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive
mechanisms are brought into play to bring the organism back to homeostasis.
If overmanifested, they can lead to a relative generalized immunosuppression
and late incidents of sepsis or multiorgan failure.
compensatory mechanisms in shock - (answers)Antidiuretic hormone causes
the reabsorption of free water by the kidney and has vasoconstrictive
properties.
(Antidiuretic hormone is released from the posterior pituitary where it
stimulates free water retention by the kidney and acts as a powerful
vasoconstrictor.)
A 71-year-old man with colon cancer is in the intensive care unit following a left
hemicolectomy. His blood pressure is 72/38 mm Hg, pulse rate is 114/min,
respiratory rate is 23/min, and oxygen saturation is 94% on 2 L of oxygen by
nasal cannulae. A pulmonary artery catheter shows a central venous pressure
of 8 cm H O, a pulmonary artery pressure of 22/8 mm Hg, a pulmonary artery
wedge pressure of 6 mm Hg, and a cardiac output of 3.4 L/min. The next step
in management should be the intravenous administration of - (answers)a fluid
bolus
, 4
pulmonary artery catheters - (answers)Allow accurate approximation of left
atrial pressure.
The magnitude of a left-to-right shunt in the presence of an ASD is determined
by - (answers)Difference in compliance between left and right ventricles.
(The blood will tend to fill the more compliant ventricle which will usually be
the right, until chronic pulmonary hypertension yields right ventricular
hypertrophy.)
Compared to conventional ventilation (endotracheal intubation), noninvasive
ventilation (mask, continuous positive airway pressure) is -
(answers)contraindicated in hemodynamically unstable patients
According to the American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care
Medicine Consensus Conference, which of the following are not part of the
diagnostic criteria for sepsis? - (answers)Hypotension defined as a systolic
blood pressure less than 90 mm Hg.
(Sepsis is defined as bacteriologic evidence of infection superimposed on a
clinical picture of SIRS. According to the ACCP/SCCM, by definition these
patients are hemodynamically stable. If they should become hemodynamically
unstable (defined as a systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg), the name for the
condition changes to "severe sepsis.")
SIRS - (answers)- Temperature greater than 38°C or less than 36°C.
- Heart rate greater than 90 bpm.
- Respiratory rate greater than 22 bpm
- White blood cell count greater than 12,000 or less than 4,000 and greater
than 10% bands.
