A 53-year-old woman presents to the primary care clinic with complaints of severe headaches  palpitations high blood pressure and diaphoresis

A 53-year-old woman presents to the primary care clinic with complaints of severe headaches, palpitations, high blood pressure and diaphoresis. She relates that these symptoms come in clusters and when she has these “spells”, she also experiences, tremor, nausea, weakness, anxiety, and a sense of doom and dread, epigastric pain, and flank pain. She had one of these spells when she was at the pharmacy and the pharmacist took her blood pressure which was recorded as 200/118. The pharmacist recommended that she immediately be evaluated for these symptoms. Past medical history significant for a family history of neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). Based on the presenting symptoms and family history of NF1, the APRN suspects the patient has a pheochromocytoma. Laboratory data and computerized tomography of the abdomen confirms the diagnosis.

Question 1 of 2:

What is a pheochromocytoma and how does it cause the classic symptoms the patient presented with? 

A 44-year-old woman presents to the clinic with complaints of extreme fatigue weight gain decreased appetite cold intolerance dry skin hair loss and sleepiness

A 44-year-old woman presents to the clinic with complaints of extreme fatigue, weight gain, decreased appetite, cold intolerance, dry skin, hair loss, and sleepiness. She also admits that she often bursts into tears without any reason and has been exceptionally forgetful. Her vision is occasionally blurry, and she admits to being depressed without any social or occupational triggers. Past medical history noncontributory. Physical exam Temp 96.2˚F, pulse 62 and regular, BP 108/90, respirations. Dull facial expression with coarse facial features. Periorbital puffiness noted. Based on the clinical history and physical exam, and pending laboratory data, the ARNP diagnoses the patient with hypothyroidism.

Question:

What causes hypothyroidism? 

A 43-year-old female patient presents to the clinic with complaints of nervousness racing heartbeat anxiety increased perspiration heat intolerance hyperactivity and palpitations

A 43-year-old female patient presents to the clinic with complaints of nervousness, racing heartbeat, anxiety, increased perspiration, heat intolerance, hyperactivity and palpitations. She states she had had the symptoms for several months but attributed the symptoms to beginning to care for her elderly mother who has Alzheimer’s Disease. She has lost 15 pounds in the last 3 months without dieting. Her past medical history is significant for rheumatoid arthritis that she has had for the last 10 years well controlled with methotrexate and prednisone. Physical exam is remarkable for periorbital edema, warm silky feeling skin, and palpable thyroid nodules in both lobes of the thyroid. Pending laboratory diagnostics, the APRN diagnoses the patient as having hyperthyroidism, also called Graves’ Disease.

Question:

Explain how the negative feedback loop controls thyroid levels.

A 47-year-old African American male presents to the clinic with chief complaints of polyuria polydipsia polyphagia and weight loss

A 47-year-old African American male presents to the clinic with chief complaints of polyuria, polydipsia, polyphagia, and weight loss. He also said that his vison occasionally blurs and that his feet sometimes feel numb.  He has increased hunger despite weight loss and admits to feeling unusually tired. He also complains of “swelling” and enlargement of his abdomen.

Past Medical History (PMH) significant for HTN fairly well controlled with and ACE inhibitor; central obesity, and dyslipidemia treated with a statin, Review of systems negative except for chief complaint. Physical exam unremarkable except for decreased filament test both feet. Random glucose in office 290 mg/dl. The APRN diagnoses the patient with type II DM and prescribes oral medication to control the glucose level and also referred the patient to a dietician for dietary teaching.

Question:

What is the basic underlying pathophysiology of Type II DM? 

A 32-year-old woman presented to the clinic complaining of weight gain swelling in her legs and ankles and a puffy face

A 32-year-old woman presented to the clinic complaining of weight gain, swelling in her legs and ankles and a puffy face. She also recently developed hypertension and diabetes type 2. She noted poor short-term memory, irritability, excess hair growth (women), red-ruddy face, extra fat around her neck, fatigue, poor concentration, and menstrual irregularity in addition to muscle weakness. Given her physical appearance and history, a tentative diagnosis of hypercortical function was made. Diagnostics included serum and urinary cortisol and serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). MRI revealed a pituitary adenoma.

Question:

How would you differentiate Cushing’s disease from Cushing’s syndrome?