Organism in polar bear liver

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tfom08

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I had this question on either the micro or path shelf exam, but it was about a hunter who ate polar bear liver and I was all ready for the vitamin A toxicity a la Goljan. But then the question was asking for a causal organism for the symptoms (can't remember what the symptoms were because I had no idea what it was) but has anyone else seen this question or know what it is?
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hah ! let me find the Polar Bear Pathology Manual in my Veterinary library... uhm, dunno, worm of some kind?
 
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overfiend06 said:
Can you give me some answer choices?

My guess....Diphyllobothrium latum.:rolleyes:
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Doubt.

DL hangs out in the flesh of intermediate hosts and small intestine of the definitive host (i.e. humans). The latter location is the cause of the Vit. B-12 deficiency/megaloblastic anemia seen in DL infxns.

Makes total sense.
 
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DOCTORSAIB said:
Doubt.

DL hangs out in the flesh of intermediate hosts and small intestine of the definitive host (i.e. humans). The latter location is the cause of the Vit. B-12 deficiency/megaloblastic anemia seen in DL infxns.

Makes total sense.
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:confused: Figure its just a typo.

In any event, I stand corrected. I have no clue.

Off subject, where can I get that bumper sticker? Its hilarious!!
 
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tfom08 said:
I had this question on either the micro or path shelf exam, but it was about a hunter who ate polar bear liver and I was all ready for the vitamin A toxicity a la Goljan. But then the question was asking for a causal organism for the symptoms (can't remember what the symptoms were because I had no idea what it was) but has anyone else seen this question or know what it is?
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Entamoeba histolytica?
 
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overfiend06 said:
:confused: Figure its just a typo.

In any event, I stand corrected. I have no clue.

Off subject, where can I get that bumper sticker? Its hilarious!!
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One of the causes of megaloblastic anemia is Vit-B12 deficiency. One of the causes of Vit-B12 def is DL. (it's in BRS Path..and I'm sure in RR Path as well)

DL eats up Vit-B12 and likes to hang out in the small intestine

The small intestine is also the place where Vit-B12 is normally absorbed.

Yeah, the bumper sticker made me laugh! Not sure where he got it.
 
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tfom08 said:
I had this question on either the micro or path shelf exam, but it was about a hunter who ate polar bear liver and I was all ready for the vitamin A toxicity a la Goljan. But then the question was asking for a causal organism for the symptoms (can't remember what the symptoms were because I had no idea what it was) but has anyone else seen this question or know what it is?
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I'd put my money on Trichinosis, caused by Trichinella Spiralis. Its not just from pigs, but from "wild game" - whatever that means.
Wikipedia says: Within 1-2 days of contagion, symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, dyspepsia, and diarrhea appear; the severity of these symptoms depends on the extent of the infection. Later on, as the worms encyst in different parts of the human body, other manifestations of the disease may appear, such as headache, fever, chills, cough, eye swelling, joint pain and muscle pain, petechiae, and itching.

Does this ring a bell or two?
 
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overfiend06 said:
Dr. Saib, how about a consult?

You've shot shown both my idea and DW's.

Any suggestions as to the mystery organism??
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Need more info man.

WTH is the OP?

SanDiegoSOD said:
I'd put my money on Trichinosis, caused by Trichinella Spiralis. Its not just from pigs, but from "wild game" - whatever that means.
Wikipedia says: Within 1-2 days of contagion, symptoms such as nausea, heartburn, dyspepsia, and diarrhea appear; the severity of these symptoms depends on the extent of the infection. Later on, as the worms encyst in different parts of the human body, other manifestations of the disease may appear, such as headache, fever, chills, cough, eye swelling, joint pain and muscle pain, petechiae, and itching.

Does this ring a bell or two?
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I'm not 100% sold on this one boss. True, Trichinella can exist in bears but the organism tends to live in muscle, not the liver as suggested by the OP's half-a$$ed history.
 
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tfom08 said:
I had this question on either the micro or path shelf exam, but it was about a hunter who ate polar bear liver and I was all ready for the vitamin A toxicity a la Goljan. But then the question was asking for a causal organism for the symptoms (can't remember what the symptoms were because I had no idea what it was) but has anyone else seen this question or know what it is?
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Maybe Echinococcus multiloccularis. Maybe the polar bear ate an wild infected animal that had be infected by the fox/canine poop. Or maybe the polar bear ate the fox.
 
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Hollaback Girl said:
Maybe Echinococcus multiloccularis. Maybe the polar bear ate an wild infected animal that had be infected by the fox/canine poop. Or maybe the polar bear ate the fox.
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I thought about it but it doesn't make much sense.

DOCTORSAID is right about both Entamoeba and Trichinella.

Where is the OP??
 
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Alright I'm back, sorry I can't give more of a history, that's pretty much all I can remember. It was probably written by some sour old professor who is jealous of Goljan so he decided to destroy his polar bear liver story. Because if it was trichinosis, polar bear is such a red herring to throw in there. Here is some info from wikipedia.

The bears sometimes have problems with various skin diseases which may be caused by mites or other parasites. The bears are especially susceptible to Trichinella, a parasitic roundworm they contract through cannibalism.[66] Sometimes excess heavy metals have been observed, as well as ethylene glycol (antifreeze) poisoning. Bears exposed to oil and petroleum products lose the insulative integrity of their coats, forcing metabolic rates to dramatically increase to maintain body heat in their challenging environment. Bacterial Leptospirosis, rabies and Morbillivirus have been recorded. The bears are thought by some to be more resistant than other carnivores to viral disease.[citation needed] The pollutant effect on the bears' immune systems, however, may end up decreasing their ability to cope with the naturally present immunological threats they encounter, and in such a challenging habitat even minor weaknesses can lead to serious problems and rapid mortality.
 
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liver - trichinella ...? not the usual association but ok, lets stretch it.... then again, polar bear hunter...
sour prof indeed
 
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peter90036 said:
liver - trichinella ...? not the usual association but ok, lets stretch it.... then again, polar bear hunter...
sour prof indeed
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I'm thinking the question didn't say anything about liver, and the OP misread and misremembered because of the Goljan association.
 
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dbhvt said:
I'm thinking the question didn't say anything about liver, and the OP misread and misremembered because of the Goljan association.
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I was thinking this too.

Besides, what kind of weirdo hunts and eats polar bear LIVER?
 
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TiggidyTooth said:
It is trichenella, a la Dr. Goljan audio.
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Which lecture is that? I am 95% sure the question was regarding polar bear liver, not just regular polar bear. But true, it is possible I am mistaken. I'm surprised nobody else had the same question on their shelf exam; I didn't know if the question pool for the shelfs was really big like for step 1.
 
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People, its Trichinella...why? because I had that question on my shelf and the person had clear MYALGIA (OP forgot this important piece of info?) after eating polar bear. That is clear trichenella because eating raw meat (wild game specifically like this eating polar bear) + larve encyst in muscle = pain

also, question didn't ask that - it asked how would you Dx it. Answer: biopsy.
 
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Haha, thanks for the help, just tell me this, was it liver or just polar bear? I could have sworn it said polar bear liver.
 
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InternationlDoc said:
People, its Trichinella...why? because I had that question on my shelf and the person had clear MYALGIA (OP forgot this important piece of info?) after eating polar bear. That is clear trichenella because eating raw meat (wild game specifically like this eating polar bear) + larve encyst in muscle = pain

also, question didn't ask that - it asked how would you Dx it. Answer: biopsy.
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Ah well, that would make sense. Thanks for the clarification InternationlDoc
 
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funny thing is I think that guy was eating the WHOLE (i'd assume he consumed liver too) polar bear - but I believe the question mentioned "meat".

NBME was nice - they could've punked alot of students with Vit A toxicity and could have added "retinol serum concentration" or some other physical signs as Dx tests. Reason being half of my class put down Vit A toxicity besides the question on the booklet and were laughing about how goljan mentioned it.

nice correlation though.
 
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InternationlDoc said:
People, its Trichinella...why? because I had that question on my shelf and the person had clear MYALGIA (OP forgot this important piece of info?) after eating polar bear. That is clear trichenella because eating raw meat (wild game specifically like this eating polar bear) + larve encyst in muscle = pain

also, question didn't ask that - it asked how would you Dx it. Answer: biopsy.
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MINOR detail the OP left out. No biggie..:laugh:

Trichinella also has eye manifestations -- periorbital edema and subconjunctival hemorrhage.
 
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"Polar bears were announced to be added to the list of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday."

Wonder if that will put an end to our polar bear questions?
 
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PenguinHead said:
"Polar bears were announced to be added to the list of animals protected by the Endangered Species Act on Wednesday."

Wonder if that will put an end to our polar bear questions?
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No more eating tasty bears :banana:


Although they could ask about some immuno questions in a polar bear given their immune situation :rolleyes:
 
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DwyaneWade said:
Although they could ask about some immuno questions in a polar bear given their immune situation :rolleyes:
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Let's not give the test writers that might be reading this thread any ideas...

:rolleyes:

I'm sure they're formulating some ridiculous questions as we speak!
 
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InternationlDoc said:
People, its Trichinella...why? because I had that question on my shelf and the person had clear MYALGIA (OP forgot this important piece of info?) after eating polar bear. That is clear trichenella because eating raw meat (wild game specifically like this eating polar bear) + larve encyst in muscle = pain

also, question didn't ask that - it asked how would you Dx it. Answer: biopsy.
Click to expand...

Our chair of medicine, sort of a well-known infectious dz guy who taught that part of our micro course, said Trichinella's somewhat more prevalent in our state (wisconsin) d/t large number of bear hunters (black bears)
 
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There is a question similar to the one given by the OP in Pre-Test Micro: a fur trapper complains about sore muscles, has swollen eyes, and reports eating bear meat on a regular basis-what is the most likely dx? Answer: trichinosis. According to the Pre-Test book, although trichinosis is most often caused by ingestion of contaminated pork, you can also get it from eating undercooked bear, walrus, raccoon, or possum.....tasty!
 
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If Dr Goljan was right, then this is all about the bear getting back at us for eating it.
 
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overfiend06 said:
I'm afraid step 1 is not just memorization. Yes it can help but you also need the other part ASSOCIATION. Being able to connect the dots.
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agreed. but as an engineering major, I found medical school alot more memoriztion heavy. Conceptually its not difficult IMHO.

Superior memorization helps alot. and the dude appeared on jeopardy and almost won!
 
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