A 68-Year-Old Man Comes to the Hospital Due to Abdominal

question 1513

Multiple Choice

A 68-year-old man comes to the hospital due to abdominal distension.  His waist has progressively enlarged over the past few weeks, leading to a feeling of "heaviness."  In addition, the patient has trouble walking more than two city blocks before becoming severely short of breath.  He has a long history of heavy alcohol use.  Scleral icterus is present on physical examination as well as 2+ pitting edema in the bilateral lower extremities.  Multiple spider angioma are identified.  The abdomen is grossly distended and mildly tender to palpation.  Shifting dullness is elicited.  Which of the following changes are most likely present in this patient?

• A)Decreased circulating angiotensin level
• B)Increased interstitial mucopolysaccharides
• C)Increased urinary sodium excretion
• D)Renal arterial vasodilation
• E)Splanchnic vasodilation

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