Med school homework... please help?

Question

Case: 73 yr. old male, lives in a home, he's brought to the clinic because of gastrointestinal problems. His abdomen is distended and there's a mass below and slightly left from belly button. He has great pain in that same area. Blood hematic cytology shows leukocytosis. What is the agent causing this?

This is a hypothetical case for microbiology class tomorrow.

Answer 1

im sorry to say but i dont know the answer. not many people do. try googling it. it could never hurt. If you dont want to google it, try staying after school with your teacher and ask him to explain to you. dont feel embarassed, it helps you a lot doing a 1on1 with a teacher

Answer 2

When you get into clinical practice, you'll find things aren't so simple (see Marie's answer), but for now, focus on Bacteroides fragilis and diverticulitis.

Answer 3

Could be a lot of things and you need some more information.  Is the distension air or fluid?  What is his surgical history/medical history?  What is the white cell count differential and morphology--are there just a lot of them or do they look abnormal?

A basic differential:

Hernia (causing leukocytosis b/c of strangulation)

Lymphoma

Solid abdominal tumor

URI (possibly secondary to prostate cancer and urinary blockage; the mass could be his bladder)

Colon cancer

That's just off the top of my head.  I'm sure there's a ton more possibilities that I'm just not thinking of at 4 AM.  ;-)

I'm sure they intend this as a learning experience anyway--they probably do not expect you to come in with the right answer but to think about what questions you would want to ask.  Good luck!

Answer 4

Sounds like pancreatitis. I do not know his overall health or what he eats??

Answer 5

Ok I am an inspiring Biology Major and soon to be Med student. From my understaning Leukocytosis is not an actual disorder or a disease. Its basiclly an increase of white blood cells. It is in fact there because of a certain illness that is occuring. As for the mass it could be anything from an abnormal growth, Blood Clot, or something else. So in general the vessels maybe decreasing in leukocytes or the bone marrow is increasing in precursor cells. The Abdomen could also be protruding due to dehydration. I'm basically just taking a wild shot into the dark, so i hope this could help in some form.