Vitamin & Mineral Disorders MCQ Quiz | Nutrition & Metabolism

1. A 5-year-old child from a low-income family presents with photophobia and dry, foamy, triangular patches on the bulbar conjunctiva. What is the most likely diagnosis?

2. A chronic alcoholic is brought to the emergency department with confusion, ataxia, and nystagmus. Administration of which vitamin is the most critical initial step in management?

3. A patient subsisting on a maize-based diet presents with a bilateral, symmetrical, hyperpigmented rash on sun-exposed areas, chronic diarrhea, and signs of dementia. This clinical triad is characteristic of:

4. Impaired synthesis of collagen leading to bleeding gums, perifollicular hemorrhages, and poor wound healing is a hallmark of which vitamin deficiency?

5. A 2-year-old child presents with bow legs (genu varum), frontal bossing of the skull, and bead-like enlargements at the costochondral junctions. This condition is caused by a deficiency of:

6. A newborn who did not receive prophylactic treatment at birth develops bleeding from the umbilical stump and gastrointestinal tract. This is due to a deficiency of a vitamin required for the gamma-carboxylation of clotting factors II, VII, IX, and X. Which vitamin is deficient?

7. A 55-year-old patient with a history of total gastrectomy presents with megaloblastic anemia and symmetric paresthesias in the lower limbs, progressing to ataxia. Which vitamin deficiency is the most likely cause?

8. A 28-year-old woman presents with fatigue, pallor, and koilonychia (spoon-shaped nails). Her blood work shows a low hemoglobin, low MCV, and low serum ferritin. What is the most likely diagnosis?

9. A resident of an inland, mountainous region presents with a large, diffuse swelling in the anterior neck. This condition, known as endemic goiter, is most commonly associated with a deficiency of:

10. A 20-year-old male presents with hepatitis, neuropsychiatric symptoms, and greenish-brown rings at the limbus of the cornea. These findings are characteristic of Wilson’s disease, a disorder of metabolism involving which mineral?

11. A patient being treated for tuberculosis with isoniazid develops a peripheral neuropathy. This is a result of isoniazid interfering with the metabolism of which vitamin?

12. Periconceptional supplementation with which of the following vitamins has been shown to significantly reduce the incidence of neural tube defects like spina bifida?

13. A child with an inherited disorder presents with a periorificial and acral dermatitis, alopecia, and diarrhea. This condition, acrodermatitis enteropathica, is caused by a defect in the absorption of:

14. An arctic explorer consumes polar bear liver and subsequently develops headache, vomiting, and papilledema. These signs of pseudotumor cerebri are due to acute toxicity of which vitamin?

15. A patient taking megadoses of a vitamin supplement presents with hypercalcemia, constipation, polyuria, and has developed renal stones. Which vitamin toxicity is the most likely cause?

16. Keshan disease, an endemic congestive cardiomyopathy seen in certain regions of China, is associated with a deficiency of which trace element?

17. A patient presents with angular cheilitis, a magenta-colored tongue (glossitis), and corneal vascularization. This combination of signs is most indicative of which vitamin deficiency?

18. A patient who recently underwent a total thyroidectomy develops perioral numbness and carpopedal spasms. Tapping on the facial nerve elicits a twitch (Chvostek’s sign). This is due to iatrogenic hypoparathyroidism leading to a deficiency of:

19. A premature infant develops hemolytic anemia, thrombocytosis, and edema. This clinical picture can be associated with a deficiency of which antioxidant vitamin?

20. An infant boy presents with brittle, “kinky” hair, hypotonia, and seizures. This X-linked recessive disorder, Menkes disease, is caused by a mutation in a transporter protein for which mineral?

21. The most well-established public health benefit of water fluoridation is the reduction of:

22. A patient from a region where polished rice is a staple food presents with pitting edema, dyspnea, and signs of high-output cardiac failure. This clinical syndrome is known as:

23. A patient with severe alcoholism is admitted with tremors, muscle weakness, and an ECG showing a prolonged QT interval and Torsades de pointes. Deficiency of which electrolyte is a common cause of this arrhythmia?

24. A middle-aged man presents with hyperpigmented skin (“bronze diabetes”), liver cirrhosis, and cardiomyopathy. This clinical presentation is most consistent with hereditary hemochromatosis, an overload disorder of:

25. A person on a bizarre diet consisting of large quantities of raw egg whites develops dermatitis, alopecia, and paraesthesias. Avidin in egg whites binds strongly to which vitamin, causing its deficiency?