Clinical Chemistry Lecture Exam I

MLS 4410

Patients with hyperaldosteronism often exhibit:

Hypokalemia

Which of the following test aids in the diagnosis of cystic fibrosis when genetic testing is inconclusive?

Chloride sweat test

The body works to maintain a _ ratio between bicarbonate and carbonic acid.

20:1

Patients on insulin therapy should be closely monitored for which of the following electrolytes:

Potassium

A patient’s hypokalemia may be mild or subclinical. Physicians often suggest these patients to treat their hypokalemia with which of the following?

Bananas, beef, spinach, potatoes

Patients are at risk for cardiac arrest when their potassium levels are nearing:

7.0 mmol/L

In vitro hemolysis can result in which of the following?

Falsely elevated potassium

Which organ is primarily responsible for controlling the level of CO₂ in the blood?

Lungs

HCO₃ is best described as which of the following?

Base

Which of the following does not play a primary role in maintaining the acid-base balance in the body?

Vitamin D

What is the most abundant extracellular cation?

Sodium

A sample that is yielding a falsely decreased calcium value and a falsely increased potassium value is the result of what?

EDTA contamination in heparinized plasma

With increased water loss, burn patients are most likely to also experience:

Hypernatremia

PTH and 1,25 (OH)2D are the principal hormones involved in the normal physiologic regulation of homeostasis of what?

Calcium

Which of the following is a complication of hypercalcemia?

Kidney stones

Which of the following has an inverse relationship with calcium?

Phosphate

The measurement of which of the following analytea utilizes an ion-selective electrode?

Ionized calcium

A patient’s calcium level is 5.3 mg/dL. How should this be interpreted?

Critically low

When arterial blood from a patient with normal values is exposed to room air:

pCO2 will be falsely decreased, pO2 will be falsely increased.

What is the first line of defense against acid/base imbalance?

Physiologic buffers

A decreased affinity for oxygen means that the RBC will…

Release oxygen into tissue

What is the most common cause of metabolic acidosis?

DKA

Partially compensated acidosis results in…

Normal pH

A patient’s anion gap is decreased. Which of the following is most likely?

Instrument error

The overall effect of parathyroid hormone (PTH) release is to:

Increase bone reabsorption

All of the following statements about partially compensated respiratory alkalosis are true except:

The causative defect is hypoventilation.

CHF (congestive heart failure) is known to cause…

Hypervolemic hyponatremia

In patients that are symptomatic due to a calcium imbalance caused by primary hyperparathyroidism, which of the following is common?

Tetany

The role of aldosterone is to actively cause the reabsorption of…

Potassium

The role of aldosterone is to actively cause the secretion of…

Sodium

How should a laboratory verify the reference range it uses for a particular test?

Test samples from healthy people

Which of the following is the primary compensation for respiratory acidosis?

Renal acid excretion

Which of the following is not implicated in high metabolic gap metabolic acidosis?

Hypoventilation

Severe diarrhea causes:

Metabolic acidosis

The specimen of choice for a total calcium analysis is…

Heparinized serum

Secondary hyperparathyroidism is often the result of:

Renal disease

In acidosis, which of the following analytes will increase?

Free calcium