OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is Zollinger-Ellison syndrome. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how Zollinger-Ellison syndrome will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a traditional 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 50-year-old male comes to the clinic with the seven month history of recurrent and burning epigastric pain. He also explains that he’s been experiencing watery and frothy diarrhea that is unusually foul-smelling and floats. He has noticed about 15 pounds of weight loss over this time. He explains that he has been trying some over-the-counter medications including antacids however he is have not had much success. His vital signs are within normal limits and his physical exam Is unremarkable except for some mid at the gastric tenderness to deep palpation. His stool test positive for occult blood, and there is also fat present in the stool. The gastrointestinal endoscopy reveals the presence of two duodenal ulcers and a jejunal ulcer. What is the likely diagnosis in this patience?
Explanation: diarrhea (watery/fatty) + symptoms refractory to treatment + multiple ulcers = Zollinger-Ellison syndrome
Question # 2
A 27 year old female has severe peptic ulcer disease. Aggressive medical management (including the eradication of H. pylori) has failed to heal her ulcers. She has several duodenal ulcers in the first and second protons of the duodenum. She also complains of watery diarrhea.
Explanation: diarrhea (watery/fatty) + symptoms refractory to treatment + multiple ulcers = Zollinger-Ellison syndrome
Page Updated: 02.21.2017