Table 1.

Example MedQA questions.

Example Question 1

Shortly after undergoing a bipolar prosthesis for a displaced femoral neck fracture of the left hip acquired after a fall the day before, an 80-year-old woman suddenly develops dyspnea. The surgery under general anesthesia with sevoflurane was uneventful, lasting 98 min, during which the patient maintained oxygen saturation readings of 100% on 8 l of oxygen. She has a history of hypertension, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis of her right knee. Her medications include ramipril, naproxen, ranitidine, and a multivitamin. She appears cyanotic, drowsy, and is oriented only to person. Her temperature is 38.6 °C (101.5 °F), pulse is 135/min, respirations are 36/min, and blood pressure is 155/95 mm Hg. Pulse oximetry on room air shows an oxygen saturation of 81%. There are several scattered petechiae on the anterior chest wall. Laboratory studies show a hemoglobin concentration of 10.5 g/dl, a leukocyte count of 9000/mm3, a platelet count of 145,000/mm3, and a creatine kinase of 190 U/l. An ECG shows sinus tachycardia. What is the most likely diagnosis?

Example Question 2

A 55-year-old man comes to the emergency department because of a dry cough and severe chest pain beginning that morning. Two months ago, he was diagnosed with inferior wall myocardial infarction and was treated with stent implantation of the right coronary artery. He has a history of hypertension and hypercholesterolemia. His medications include aspirin, clopidogrel, atorvastatin, and enalapril. His temperature is 38.5°C (101.3 °F), pulse is 92/min, respirations are 22/min, and blood pressure is 130/80 mm Hg. Cardiac examination shows a high-pitched scratching sound best heard while sitting upright and during expiration. The remainder of the examination shows no abnormalities. An ECG shows diffuse ST elevations. Serum studies show a troponin I of 0.005 ng/ml (N < 0.01). What is the most likely cause of this patient’s symptoms?

Example questions used in all MEDQA prompts provided in Table 2.