OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is ethylene glycol poisoning. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how ethylene glycol poisoning will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a tradition question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.
QUESTION EXAMPLES
Question # 1
A 55 year old homeless man with alcoholism is brought to the emergency department by a concerned friend after he is found in the street in an agitated and confused state. He explains that he feels nervous and could “really use a cold one”. His temperature is 98.7°F, pulse is 115/min, respirations are 20/min, and blood pressure is 140/90 mm Hg. He is trembling. Labs reveal a hematocrit of 30%, and urinalysis shows 7 WBC/hpf and many oxalate crystals in the urine. What is the most likely cause of this patient’s symptoms?
Page Updated: 09.18.2016