Sample exam questions questions with ideal answers
1.Which conjunctivitis is least likely to occur bilaterally?
a. allergic
b. viral
c. bacterial
d. vernal
2. You’re consulted by an intern from the ICU because his ventilated
patient, with a head injury, has a fixed and dilated pupil. The intern is
concerned for acute glaucoma. What do you tell him?
a. find a Tono-Pen and check the pressure
b. call his upper-level fellow immediately
c. taper the patient’s benzos
d. increase the PEEP ventilator setting
3. Which optic nerve finding is most concerning for glaucomatous damage?
a. large disk size
b. horizontal cupping
c. vertical cupping
d. disk tilt
4. A young 23-year-old black man presents with a hyphema in the right eye
after blunt injury. All of the following are acceptable initial treatments
except?
a. sleep with the head elevated
b. prednisolone steroid eye drops
c. cyclopentolate dilating drops
d. carbonic anhydrase inhibitor pressure drops
5. A 7-year-old boy presents with a grossly swollen eyelid. His mother can’t
think of anything that set this off. What finding is most characteristic of a
dangerous orbital cellulitis?
a. chemosis
b. warmth and erythema of the eyelid
c. physically taut-feeling eyelid
d. proptosis
6. What location for a retinal detachment would be most amenable to
treatment by pneumatic retinopexy?
a. inferior rhegamatogenous detachment
b. superior tractional retinal detachment
c. superior rhegamatogenous detachment
d. traumautic macular hole
7. A mother brings in her two-year old child because she is concerned that
her baby is cross-eyed. Which of the following is an inappropriate
statement:
a. the baby may maintain 20/20 vision
b. the esotropia could lead to permanent vision loss
c. the esotropia might be corrected with glasses alone
d. surgical treatment should be delayed until adolescence
8.Which of the following is the biggest risk factor for primary open angle
glaucoma?
a. Asian ancestry
b. smaller diurnal pressure IOP changes
c. thin corneas
d. large optic disks
9. A 27-year-old contact lens wearer presents to the ER complaining of
ocular irritation. On exam he has a small 2mm corneal abrasion. You
should
a. treat with erythromycin ointment
b. treat with ciprofloxacin drops
c. bandage contact lens for comfort and speed reepitheliazation
d. patch the eye and follow-up in 72 hours
10. A woman presents to you complaining of a red, watering eye for the past
two days with stinging and some photophobia. Her vision has dropped
slightly to 20/30. She has a history of diabetes and is taking drops for
glaucoma, but is otherwise healthy. The most likely cause of her redness is:
a. angle-closure glaucoma
b. viral conjunctivitis
c. diabetic retinopathy
d. papilledema
11. A patient presents after MVA with a fracture of the orbital floor. What
would be the indication for surgery in the near future?
a. double vision that worsens with upgaze
b. chemosis and moderate proptosis
c. restricted forced ductions
d. decreased extraocular movement
12. A 64-year-old man presents to you with new onset of “crossed-eyes.”
His left eye can’t move out laterally and he has a chronic mild headache that
he attributes to eyestrain. Which of the following is least likely the cause of
his condition:
a. hypertension
b. diabetes
c. aneurysm
d. increased intracranial pressure
13. The abducens nucleus would be most affected by a brainstem lesion at:
a. pons
b. mid-brain
c. medulla
d. foramen magnum
14. The pupillary defect that affects the afferent arm of the pupillary
response is the:
a. Marcus Gunn pupil
b. Argyl Robberson pupil
c. Adies pupil
d. Horners pupil
15. Aqueous fluid is produced in which chamber?
a. anterior chamber
b. vitreous chamber
c. posterior chamber
d. trabecular chamber
16. Which orbital bone is most likely to fracture with blunt trauma to the eye?
a. zygomatic
b. maxillary
c. ethmoid
d. sphenoid
17. When a patient focuses on near objects, the lens zonules:
a. rotate
b. contract
c. relax
d. twist
18. What is glaucoma?
a. retinal damage from high intraocular pressure
b. optic nerve death caused by mechanical stretching forces
c. ischemic nerve damage from decreased blood perfusion gradients
d. none of the above
19. Which condition would result in an inaccurately high reading with
applanation pressure measurement?
a. thin cornea
b. thick cornea
c. edematous cornea
d. keratoconus
20. Gonioscopy overcomes the concept of:
a. angled biomicroscopy
b. spherical abberation
c. total internal reflection
d. specular microscopy
21. A 32-year-old white man with a history of type-1 diabetes presents to
you complaining of decreased vision. He has not seen an eye doctor in
years. On exam, you find numerous dot-blot hemorrhages, hard exudates,
and several areas of abnormal vasculature in the retina. Pan-retinal
photocoagulation might be done in this patient to:
a. kill ischemic retina
b. tamponade retinal tears
c. ablate peripheral blood vessels
d. seal off leaking blood vessels
22. Which of the following is a risk factor for retinal detachment?
a. black race
b. male sex
c. presbyopia
d. myopia
23. A 57-year-old man complains of flashing lights and a shade of darkness
over the inferior nasal quadrant in one eye. On exam you find the pressure a
little lower on the affected eye and a questionable Schaffer’s sign. What
condition would lead you to immediate treatment/surgery?
a. macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment
b. epi-retinal membrane involving the macula
c. dense vitreous hemorrhage in the inferior nasal quadrant
d. mid-peripheral horseshoe tear with sub-retinal fluid
24. Oral doxycycline helps blepharitis patients by:
a. antibiotic tear secretion
b. changing lipid viscosity
c. inhibiting cytokine release
d. improved lacrimal gland excretion
25. Put the following retinal layers in order from inside (next to the vitreous)
to outside:
a. ganglion nerves, photoreceptors, choroid, then sclera on the outside.
b. photoreceptors, ganglion nerves, choroid, then sclera on the outside.
c. choroid, photoreceptors, ganglion nerves, then sclera on the outside.
d. choroid, ganglion nerves, photoreceptors, then sclera on the outside.
26. In the absence of lens accommodation, a myopic eye focuses images:
a. in front of the lens
b. In front of the retina
c. behind the retina
d. behind the cornea
27. A man calls the office complaining of eye pain after splashing bleach in
his eye. You should instruct him to:
a. patch the eye and immediately go to the office
b. irrigate the eye for 15 minutes and then go to the office
c. immediately apply lubricating ointment and then go to the office
d. immediately wash the eye with contact saline solution and go to the office
if he notices any change in vision
28. What antibiotic would you use in a newborn with suspected chlamydial
conjunctivitis?
a. Ciprofloxacin drops
b. Erythromycin drops
c. Oral Doxycyline
d. Erythromycin drops and oral erythromycin
29. You are measuring eye deviation in a child with strabismus. The corneal
light reflex is 2mm temporal to the pupil in the right eye. How much deviation
would you estimate?
a. 10 diopters esotropia
b. 20 diopters exotropia
c. 30 diopters esotropia
d. 40 diopters exotropia
30. Steroids typically induce what kind of cataract?
a. Nuclear sclerotic
b. Posterior polar
c. Posterior subcapsular
d. Cortical