NBME 20 Answers : Block 1 : #49 = A 56-year-old man comes to the physician because of ...

nbme20/Block 1/Question#49

A 56-year-old man comes to the physician because of ...

Fibromuscular hyperplasia of arterioles

+2 upvote downvote
submitted by hayayah(217),

Case of arteriolosclerosis.

Hyperplastic arteriolosclerosis involves thickening of vessel wall by hyperplasia of smooth muscle ('onion-skin appearance')

Consequence of malignant hypertension (>180/120 w/ acute end-organ damage)
Results in reduced vessel caliber with end-organ ischemia
May lead to fibrinoid necrosis of the vessel wall with hemorrhage; classically causes acute renal failure (ARF) with a characteristic 'flea-bitten' appearance

masonkingcobra From Robbin's: Fibromuscular dysplasia is a focal irregular thickening of the walls of medium-sized and large muscular arteries due to a combination of medial and intimal hyperplasia and fibrosis. It can manifest at any age but occurs most frequently in young women. The focal wall thickening results in luminal stenosis or can be associated with abnormal vessel spasm that reduces vascular flow; in the renal arteries, it can lead to renovascular hypertension. Between the focal segments of thickened wall, the artery often also exhibits medial attenuation; vascular outpouchings can develop in these portions of the vessel and sometimes rupture. +

asapdoc I thought this was a weirdly worded answer. I immediately ( stupidly) crossed of fibromuscular dysplasia since it wasnt a younger women =/ +

uslme123 I was thinking malignant nephrosclerosis ... but I guess you'd get hyperplastic arteries first -_- +

hello The answer choice is fibromuscular HYPERplasia - I think this is different from fibromuscular DYSplasia (seen in young women); +3

yotsubato hello is right. Fibromuscular hyperplasia is thickening of the muscular layer of the arteriole in response to chronic hypertension (as the question stem implies) +1