Practice Test Geeks(MCCQE) Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Practice Test
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Neurological Disorders Flashcards

7 cards from real MCCQE practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Neurological Disorders flashcards as text

  1. A 55-year-old diabetic man presents with foot drop and inability to evert his foot. There is sensory loss over the dorsum of the foot. Which nerve is most likely injured?

    Answer: Common peroneal nerve

    Common peroneal nerve injury causes foot drop (weakness of dorsiflexion and eversion) and sensory loss over the dorsum of the foot and lateral leg.

  2. A 19-year-old man has brief staring spells lasting 5-10 seconds with eyelid fluttering, occurring multiple times daily. His mother says he had similar episodes as a child. EEG shows 3 Hz spike-and-wave during hyperventilation. What is the most likely diagnosis?

    Answer: Absence epilepsy

    Absence epilepsy is characterized by brief staring spells with eyelid fluttering, 3 Hz spike-and-wave on EEG, and provocation by hyperventilation.

  3. A 75-year-old man presents with fluctuating cognition, visual hallucinations of animals and people, and parkinsonian features. He is very sensitive to haloperidol. What is the most likely diagnosis?

    Answer: Lewy body dementia

    Lewy body dementia is characterized by fluctuating cognition, recurrent visual hallucinations, parkinsonism, and severe neuroleptic sensitivity, distinguishing it from other dementias.

  4. A 48-year-old man presents with sharp stabbing facial pain in the distribution of V2 and V3, triggered by chewing and touching his face. The pain lasts seconds. Neurological examination is normal. What is the most appropriate first-line treatment?

    Answer: Carbamazepine

    Carbamazepine is the first-line treatment for trigeminal neuralgia, with the highest level of evidence for reducing the frequency and severity of lancinating facial pain.

  5. A 32-year-old woman presents with sudden-onset weakness and areflexia in all four limbs after recovering from a respiratory illness. She requires mechanical ventilation. Which monitoring parameter is most important in this condition?

    Answer: Forced vital capacity (FVC)

    In Guillain-Barré syndrome, serial FVC monitoring is critical because respiratory muscle weakness can lead to respiratory failure; intubation is indicated when FVC falls below 15-20 mL/kg.

  6. A 40-year-old man presents with a 3-month history of progressively worsening headaches, worse in the morning and with Valsalva maneuver. He has papilledema and no focal deficits. MRI shows a ring-enhancing lesion with surrounding edema. What is the most likely diagnosis?

    Answer: Glioblastoma multiforme

    Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) classically presents as a ring-enhancing lesion with central necrosis and surrounding edema in an adult, often with progressive headaches and raised ICP signs.

  7. A 62-year-old woman presents with sudden painless loss of vision in her left eye lasting 10 minutes that resolved completely. Fundoscopy during the episode showed segmental pallor of the retina. What is the most important next investigation?

    Answer: Carotid Doppler ultrasound

    Transient monocular vision loss (amaurosis fugax) is most commonly caused by ipsilateral carotid artery disease; carotid Doppler is the priority investigation to identify treatable stenosis.