A high school basketball player experiences a sudden difficulty in breathing and is brought to an
emergency department. When a low tracheotomy is performed below the isthmus of the thyroid, which
of the following vessels may be encountered?
Inferior thyroid vein
Inferior thyroid artery
Costocervical trunk
Superior thyroid artery
Right brachiocephalic vein
A 59-year-old man complains of numbness in the anterior cervical triangle. Therefore, damage has
occurred to which of the following nerves?
Transverse cervical nerve
Phrenic nerve
Greater auricular nerve
Supraclavicular nerve
Lesser occipital nerve
A 53-year-old man has difficulty with
breathing through his nose. On examination,
his physician finds that he has swelling of the
mucous membranes of the superior nasal meatus. Which opening of the paranasal sinuses is
most likely plugged?
Posterior ethmoidal sinus
Middle ethmoidal sinus
Maxillary sinus
Posterior ethmoidal sinus
Anterior ethmoidal sinus
Frontal sinus
A 61-year-old woman is found to have ocular lymphoma invading her optic canal. Which of the
following structures would most likely be damaged?
Ophthalmic artery
Ophthalmic vein
Ophthalmic nerve
Oculomotor nerve
Trochlear nerve
A 76-year-old man with swallowing difficulties undergoes imaging for a possible mass. The CT scan
image at the level of the cricothyroid ligament in his neck should show which of the following
structures?
Inferior laryngeal nerves
External carotid arteries
Inferior thyroid veins
Thyrocervical trunks
Internal laryngeal nerves
The muscles that are of branchiomeric origin are paralyzed in a 26-year-old patient. A lesion of which
of the following nerves would cause muscle dysfunction?
Trigeminal nerve
Oculomotor nerve
Trochlear nerve
Abducens nerve
Hypoglossal nerve
During surgery for a malignant parotid tumor in a 69-year-old woman, the main trunk of the facial
nerve is lacerated. Which of the following muscles is paralyzed?
Buccinator muscle
Masseter muscle
Stylopharyngeus muscle
Anterior belly of the digastric muscle
Tensor tympani
During a gang fight, a 17-year-old boy is punched, and his nasal septum is broken. Which of the
following structures would be damaged?
Vomer and perpendicular plate of ethmoid
Septal cartilage and nasal bone
Inferior concha and vomer
Septal cartilage and middle concha
Cribriform plate and frontal bone
A 58-year-old woman comes to the hospital and complains of progressive loss of voice, numbness,
loss of taste on the back part of her tongue, and difficulty in shrugging her shoulders. Her MRI scan
reveals a dural meningioma that compresses the nerves leaving the skull. These nerves leave the skull
through which of the following openings?
Jugular foramen
Foramen spinosum
Foramen rotundum
Internal auditory meatus
Foramen lacerum
A 21-year-old woman presents to her physician with a swelling on her neck. On examination, she is
diagnosed with an infection within the carotid sheath. Which of the following structures would be
damaged?
Internal jugular vein and vagus nerve
Vagus nerve and middle cervical ganglion
Internal carotid artery and recurrent laryngeal nerve
Sympathetic trunk and common carotid artery
External carotid artery and ansa cervicalis
An angiogram of a 45-year-old man shows an occlusion of the costocervical trunk. This obstruction
could produce a marked decrease in the blood flow in which of the following arteries?
Deep cervical artery
Superior thoracic artery
Transverse cervical artery
Ascending cervical artery
Inferior thyroid artery
A 57-year-old man comes to the local hospital with fever, headache, nausea, and vomiting. Laboratory
tests reveal an infection, and radiologic examination localizes the infection to the cavernous sinus.
Which of the following nerves would be unaffected by this condition?
Mandibular nerves
Oculomotor nerves
Abducens nerves
Trochlear nerves
Ophthalmic nerves
A 7-year-old girl has difficulty breathing through her nose and is brought to her pediatrician. On
examination, she is
diagnosed with adenoids. Which of the following tonsils is enlarged?
Pharyngeal tonsil
Palatine tonsil
Tubal tonsil
Lingual tonsil
Eustachian tonsil
