OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is rickets. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how rickets 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 10 month old boy is brought tot he pediatrician for a routine visit. His birth history is unremarkable, and he is primarily breastfed by his mother. He has begun eating baby food. He has been growing well and consistently gaining weight. While he has not begun walking, he has started cruising. He is able to say both “mama” and “dada”. He has no remarkable past medical history, allergies, and is not taking any medications. A physical exam reveals an anterior fontanel that is wide open. Skull palpation demonstrates pliable skull bones that have no step-offs. There are bony prominences at the costochondral junctions bilaterally. The patient’s legs are bowed. The rest of his exam is non-contributory. What is a possible diagnosis?
Explanation: costochondral join hypertrophy (rachitic rosary) + bowed legs (genu varum) + large anterior fontanel + craniotabes = rickets
Page Updated: 11.22.2016