Hepatobiliary Surgery Interview Questions & Answers

Posted On:May 7, 2019, Posted By: Latest Interview Questions, Views: 1787, Rating :

Best Hepatobiliary Surgery Interview Questions and Answers

Dear Readers, Welcome to Hepatobiliary Surgery Objective Questions and Answers have been designed specially to get you acquainted with the nature of questions you may encounter during your Job interview for the subject of Hepatobiliary Surgery Multiple choice Questions. These Objective type Hepatobiliary Surgery Questions are very important for campus placement test and job interviews. As per my experience good interviewers hardly plan to ask any particular question during your Job interview and these model questions are asked in the online technical test and interview of many Medical Industry.

1. Which of the following statements about the segmental anatomy of the liver are not true?

A. Segments are subdivisions in both the French and American systems.

B. Segments are determined primarily by the hepatic venous drainage.

C. The French anatomic system is more applicable than the American system to clinical hepatic resection.

D. Segments are important to the understanding of the topographic anatomy of the liver.

Answer: D

Interview Questions on Hepatobiliary Surgery

2. Which of the following anatomic features of the biliary system are important considerations in operative cholangiography?

A. The left hepatic duct comes off farther anterior than the right one.

B. At the confluence there may be more than just a right and a left hepatic duct.

C. Dissection of the triangle of Calot is more important than cholangiography in preventing bile duct injury.

D. Segments V, VII, or VIII sometimes join the biliary system below the confluence.

Answer: ABCD

 

3. The hepatic artery:

A. Supplies the same amount of blood to the liver as the portal vein.

B. Provides more blood to the bile ducts than the portal vein.

C. Is autoregulated just as the portal vein is.

D. Supplies most of the blood to hepatic metastases.

Answer: BD

 

4. Bile formation is:

A. An active secretory process.

B. Determined at two sites principally.

C. Regulated physiologically by hormones.

D. Largely determined by the intactness of the enterohepatic circulation (EHC).

Answer: ABCD

 

5. Generally, the two most important hepatic functions to consider after hepatic resection are:

A. Hepatic synthetic function.

B. Glucose metabolism.

C. The liver’s role in lipid metabolism.

D. The liver’s role in vitamin metabolism.

Answer: AB

 

6. Which of the following statements about pyogenic abscess of the liver are true?

A. The right lobe is more commonly involved than the left lobe.

B. Appendicitis with perforation and abscess is the most common underlying cause of hepatic abscess.

C. Mortality is largely determined by the underlying disease.

D. Mortality from hepatic abscess is currently greater than 40%.

Answer: AC

 

7. Which of the following statements most accurately describes the current therapy for pyogenic hepatic abscess?

A. Antibiotics alone are adequate for the treatment of most cases.

B. All patients require open surgical drainage for optimal management.

C. Optimal treatment involves treatment of not only the abscess but the underlying source as well.

D. Percutaneous drainage is more successful for multiple lesions than for solitary ones.

Answer: C

 

8. Which of the following statements characterize amebic abscess?

A. Mortality is higher than that for similarly located pyogenic abscesses.

B. The diagnosis of amebic abscess may be based on serologic tests and resolution of symptoms.

C. In contrast to pyogenic abscess, the treatment of amebic abscess is primarily medical.

D. Patients with amebic abscess tend to be older than those with pyogenic abscess.

BC

 

9. Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about benign lesions of the liver?

A. Adenomas are true neoplasms with a predisposition for complications and should usually be resected.

B. Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is a neoplasm related to birth control pills (BCPs) and usually requires resection.

C. Hemangiomas are the most common benign lesions of the liver that come to the surgeon’s attention.

D. Nodular regenerative hyperplasia does not usually accompany cirrhosis.

Answer: A

 

10. Which of the following statement(s) about malignant neoplasms of the liver is/are true?

A. Hepatocellular carcinoma is probably the number 1 cause of death from cancers worldwide.

B. The most common resectable hepatic malignant neoplasm in the United States is colorectal metastasis.

C. Hepatoma has at least one variant that has a much more benign course than hepatomas in general.

D. Hepatomas are generally slower growing than was formerly believed.

Answer: ABCD

 

11. Which of the following statement(s) is/are true about bile duct cancers?

A. If resected, proximal lesions are usually curable.

B. The more proximal the lesion, the more likely is resection to be curative.

C. Radiation clearly prolongs survival.

D. Transplantation is usually successful if the lesion seems confined to the liver.

E. None of the above is true.

Answer: E

 

12. Echinococcosis liver disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus:

A. Is not a neoplasm.

B. Is endemic to parts of Europe, but not the United States.

C. Is usually curable by resection.

D. Is more deadly than in its Echinococcus multilocularis form.

Answer: ABC

 

13. Which of the following statements about hemobilia are true?

A. Tumors are the most common cause.

B. The primary treatment of severe hemobilia is an operation.

C. Percutaneous cholangiographic hemobilia is usually minor.

D. Ultrasonography usually reveals a specific diagnosis.

Answer: C

 

14. Ligation of all of the following arteries usually causes significant hepatic enzyme abnormalities except:

A. Ligation of the right hepatic artery.

B. Ligation of the left hepatic artery.

C. Ligation of the hepatic artery distal to the gastroduodenal branch.

D. Ligation of the hepatic artery proximal to the gastroduodenal artery.

Answer: D

 

15. Which of the following is the most common acid-base disturbance in patients with cirrhosis and portal hypertension?

A. Metabolic acidosis.

B. Respiratory alkalosis.

C. Metabolic alkalosis.

D. Respiratory acidosis.

Answer: C

 

16. A portal venous pressure of 30 mm. Hg (elevated) and a hepatic venous wedge pressure of 5 mm. Hg (normal) may be associated with which of the following causes of portal hypertension?

A. Portal vein thrombosis.

B. Alcoholic cirrhosis.

C. Schistosomiasis.

D. Alcoholic hepatitis.

Answer: AC

 

17. Which of the following is the most effective definitive therapy for both prevention of recurrent variceal hemorrhage and control of ascites?

A. Endoscopic sclerotherapy.

B. Distal splenorenal shunt.

C. Esophagogastric devascularization (Sugiura procedure).

D. Side-to-side portacaval shunt.

E. End-to-side portacaval shunt.

Answer: D

 

18. Which of the following treatments most effectively preserves hepatic portal perfusion?

A. Distal splenorenal shunt.

B. Conventional splenorenal shunt.

C. Endoscopic sclerotherapy.

D. Side-to-side portacaval shunt.

Answer: C

 

19. Which of the following veins is preserved in performing the extensive esophagogastric devascularization procedure described by Sugiura?

A. Left gastric (coronary) vein.

B. Short gastric vein.

C. Splenic vein.

D. Left gastroepiploic vein.

Answer: A

 

20. Which of the following complications of portal hypertension often require surgical intervention (for more than 25% of patients)?

A. Hypersplenism.

B. Variceal hemorrhage.

C. Ascites.

D. Encephalopathy.

Answer: B

 

21. Which of the following effects are advantages of combined vasopressin and nitroglycerin intravenous infusion, as compared with vasopressin infusion alone, in controlling acute variceal bleeding?

A. Lower frequency of encephalopathy.

B. Lower incidence of vasopressin side effects.

C. More effective control of bleeding.

D. Less “rebound effect” when discontinuing the infusion.

Answer: BC

 

22. Which of the following statements about the peritoneovenous shunt (PVS) is/are correct?

A. For cirrhotic patients with intractable ascites, the LeVeen shunt is an effective “bridge” to liver transplantation.

B. Replacement of ascites with saline or lactated Ringer’s solution reduces the coagulopathy following PVS.

C. For patients with cirrhotic ascites, the survival using repeated paracentesis with 5% albumin infusion is equivalent to that with the PVS.

D. Oliguria (less than 25 ml. per hour) in the immediate postoperative period following PVS should be treated with a 5% albumin infusion.

E. The transjugular intrahepatic portacaval shunt with stent (TIPSS) works on the same principle as the PVS.

Answer: BC

 

23. Which of the following clinical situations are considered good indications for PVS?

A. A 50-year-old cirrhotic man had an emergency portacaval shunt for bleeding varices and postoperatively had an ascites leak and mild superficial wound infection.

B. A 57-year-old woman with primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC) has difficult to control ascites and diuretic-induced encephalopathy.

C. A 46-year-old resistant alcoholic has chronic ascites uncontrolled by diuretics combined with repeat paracentesis.

D. A 34-year-old woman taking BCPs had rapid onset of ascites and is found to have hepatic vein thrombosis causing the Budd-Chiari syndrome.

Answer: C

 

24. Which of the following explanations account(s) for the fact that hepatitis C is the most common cause of posttransfusion hepatitis?

A. There are more carriers of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the normal population who serve as blood donors.

B. Blood infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is eliminated through routine testing, leaving only HCV as the other blood-borne pathogen.

C. Current serologic tests for HCV antigen do not exclude carriers.

D. Questions designed to eliminate risk groups for HCV from the normal donor population may not be as specific as would be desirable.

E. Hepatitis C is a more virulent form of viral hepatitis, so it is expected that more cases of posttransfusion hepatitis would occur.

Answer: BD

 

25. True or false: HBV infections:

A. Are usually asymptomatic.

B. May not be clinically recognized but may lead to chronic hepatitis.

C. Reliably protect against subsequent HBV infection regardless of the measured antibody titer to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).

D. Are completely prevented by postexposure administration of HBIg hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIg).

E. Preclude subsequent infection with HDV.

Answer: TRUE: BC, FALSE ADE

 

26. Which of the following statements about choledocholithiasis are correct?

A. Common duct stones can originate in the gallbladder and migrate to the common duct, and stones can form de novo in the duct system.

B. Calcium bilirubinate stones are associated with the presence of bacteria in the duct system.

C. Common duct stones discovered at laparoscopic cholecystectomy should be treated by postoperative endoscopic extraction.

D. The serum bilirubin value is usually greater than 15 mg. per dl. in the patient with a symptomatic common duct stone.

Answer: ABC

 

27. A benign biliary duct stricture:

A. Need not be treated unless it causes clinical jaundice.

B. Should always be treated by percutaneous balloon drainage.

C. Is prone to recur after treatment with biliary-enteric anastomosis.

D. When due to chronic pancreatitis should be treated by side-to-side choledochoduodenostomy.

Answer: CD

 

28. Which statements about extrahepatic bile duct cancer are correct?

A. Cholangiography is essential in evaluating patients for resectability.

B. The prognosis is excellent when appropriate surgical and adjuvant therapy are given.

C. The location of the tumor determines the type of surgical procedure.

D. The disease usually becomes manifest by moderate to severe right-side upper quadrant pain.

Answer: AC

 

29. Which of the following statements about biliary tract problems are correct?

A. Choledochal cyst should be treated by Roux-en-Y cystojejunostomy.

B. Sclerosing cholangitis is characterized by long, narrow strictures in the extrahepatic biliary duct system.

C. Operative (needle) cholangiography is indicated in patients who at operation appear to have no gallbladder.

D. The long cystic duct, which appears to be fused with the common duct and enters it distally, should be dissected free and ligated at its entrance into the common duct.

Answer: C

 

30. Which of the following statements about the diagnosis of acute calculous cholecystitis are true?

A. Pain is so frequent that its absence almost precludes the diagnosis.

B. Jaundice is present in a majority of patients.

C. Ultrasonography is the definitive diagnostic test.

D. Cholescintigraphy is the definitive diagnostic test.

Answer: AD

 

31. Which statements about acute acalculous cholecystitis are correct?

A. The disease is often accompanied by or associated with other conditions.

B. The diagnosis is often difficult.

C. The mortality rate is higher than that for acute calculous cholecystitis.

D. The disease has been treated successfully by percutaneous cholecystostomy.

Answer: ABCD

 

32. True statements about the surgical management of patients with acute calculous cholecystitis include:

A. Operation should be performed in all patients as soon as the diagnosis is made.

B. Antibiotic therapy should be initiated as soon as the diagnosis is made.

C. Dissection of the gallbladder is facilitated by decompression of the organ with the use of a trocar.

D. An operative cholangiogram should be done in every patient.

Answer: BC

 

33. Which of the following are indications for cholecystectomy?

A. The presence of gallstones in a patient with intermittent episodes of right-side upper quadrant pain.

B. The presence of gallstones in an asymptomatic patient.

C. The presence of symptomatic gallstones in a patient with angina pectoris.

D. The presence of asymptomatic gallstones in a patient who has insulin-dependent diabetes.

Answer: A

 

34. Which of the following statements about laparoscopic cholecystectomy are correct?

A. The procedure is associated with less postoperative pain and earlier return to normal activity.

B. The incidence of bile duct injury is higher than for open cholecystectomy.

C. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy should be used in asymptomatic patients because it is safer than open cholecystectomy.

D. Pregnancy is a contraindication.

Answer: AB

 

35. Which of the following statements about cholangitis are correct?

A. Charcot’s triad is always present.

B. Associated biliary tract disease is always present.

C. Chills and fever are due to the presence of bacteria in the bile duct system.

D. The most common cause of cholangitis is choledocholithiasis.

Answer: BCD

 

36. Recurrent episodes of cholangitis:

A. Suggest the presence of undetected or overlooked bile duct pathology.

B. Occur frequently in patients who have indwelling biliary tubes or stents.

C. May be ameliorated by long-term administration of antibiotics.

D. May be associated with the development of secondary biliary cirrhosis.

Answer: ABCD

 

37. The initial goal of therapy for acute toxic cholangitis is to:

A. Prevent cholangiovenous reflux by decompressing the duct system.

B. Remove the obstructing stone, if one is present.

C. Alleviate jaundice and prevent permanent liver damage.

D. Prevent the development of gallstone pancreatitis.

Answer: A

 

38. The clinical picture of gallstone ileus includes which of the following?

A. Air in the biliary tree.

B. Small bowel obstruction.

C. A stone at the site of obstruction.

D. Acholic stools.

E. Associated bouts of cholangitis.

Answer: ABCE

 

39. Which of the following statement(s) about gallstone ileus is/are not true?

A. The condition is seen most frequently in women older than 70.

B. Concomitant with the bowel obstruction, air is seen in the biliary tree.

C. The usual fistula underlying the problem is between the gallbladder and the ileum.

D. When possible, relief of small bowel obstruction should be accompanied by definitive repair of the fistula since there is a significant incidence of recurrence if the fistula is left in place.

E. Ultrasound studies may be of help in identifying a gallstone as the obstructing agent.

Answer: C

 

40. Which of the following lesions are believed to be associated with the development of carcinoma of the gallbladder?

A. Cholecystoenteric fistula.

B. A calcified gallbladder.

C. Adenoma of the gallbladder.

D. Xanthogranulomatous cholecystitis.

E. All of the above.

Answer: E

 

41. The preferred treatment for carcinoma of the gallbladder is:

A. Radical resection that includes gallbladder in continuity with the right hepatic lobe and regional lymph node dissection.

B. Radiation therapy.

C. Chemotherapy.

D. Combined treatment involving surgical therapy, chemotherapy, and radiation.

E. None of the above.

Answer: E

 

42. Which of the following statement(s) about pancreatic embryonic malformations is/are correct?

A. Pancreas divisum can be a cause of gastrointestinal bleeding.

B. Heterotopic pancreatic tissue predisposes to pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

C. Annular pancreas may cause gastrointestinal obstruction in children or in adults.

D. Relative obstruction to the flow of pancreatic juice through the minor papilla appears to be the cause of pancreatitis in some patients with pancreas divisum.

Answer: CD

 

43. The pancreas occupies a retroperitoneal position in the upper abdomen. Which statement(s) is/are correct?

A. The superior mesenteric vein and the splenic vein join to form the portal vein posterior to the neck of the pancreas.

B. The uncinate process of the pancreas extends posterior to the inferior vena cava.

C. The tail of the pancreas extends to the left of the aorta, toward the splenic hilum.

D. The head of the pancreas is jointly supplied by arterial blood from the celiac axis and the superior mesenteric artery.

Answer: ACD

 

44. Both endocrine and exocrine tissue comprise the pancreas. Which statement(s) is/are true?

A. The islets of Langerhans total 1 million per gland and drain their secretions via intercalated duct cells through the ampulla of Vater.

B. Islet alpha cells produce glucagon.

C. Islet sigma cells produce somatostatin.

D. The acini and ductal systems constitute the exocrine portion of the pancreas.

Answer: BD

 

45. Pancreatic exocrine secretory products include a bicarbonate-rich electrolyte solution as well as digestive enzymes. Which of the following statement(s) is/are true?

A. Cholecystokinin (CCK) is the most potent endogenous stimulant of pancreatic enzyme secretion.

B. The chloride and bicarbonate concentrations of pancreatic juice vary and depend on the secretory flow rate.

C. Secretin is the most potent endogenous stimulant of pancreatic water and electrolyte secretion.

D. The peptidases synthesized by acinar cells are released into the pancreatic duct system in active form.

Answer: ABC

 

46. Which of the following parameters is/are not included in the Ranson’s prognostic signs useful in the early evaluation of a patient with acute pancreatitis?

A. Elevated blood glucose.

B. Leukocytosis.

C. Amylase value greater than 1000 U per dl.

D. Serum lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) greater than 350 IU per dl.

E. Alanine aminotransferase greater than 250 U per dl.

Answer: CE

 

47. Standard supportive measures for patients with mild pancreatitis include the following:

A. Intravenous fluid and electrolyte therapy.

B. Withholding of analgesics to allow serial abdominal examinations.

C. Subcutaneous octreotide therapy.

D. Nasogastric decompression.

E. Prophylactic antibiotics.

Answer: A

 

48. Which of the following statements about chronic pancreatitis is/are correct?

A. Chronic pancreatitis is the inevitable result after repeated episodes of acute pancreatitis.

B. Patients with chronic pancreatitis commonly present with jaundice, pruritus, and fever.

C. Mesenteric angiography is useful in the evaluation of many patients with chronic pancreatitis.

D. Total pancreatectomy usually offers the best outcome in patients with chronic pancreatitis.

E. For patients with disabling chronic pancreatitis and a dilated pancreatic duct with associated stricture formation, a longitudinal pancreaticojejunostomy (Peustow procedure) is an appropriate surgical option.

Answer: E

 

49. Which of the following statements about pancreatic ascites is/are correct?

A. Patients typically present with painful ascites, reflecting the release of toxic pancreatic enzymes into the peritoneal cavity.

B. The standard evaluation of a patient with new-onset ascites includes abdominal paracentesis. In cases of pancreatic ascites, the peritoneal fluid contains high concentrations of both amylase and protein.

C. Pancreatic ascites can follow an episode of acute pancreatitis.

D. Patients with pancreatic ascites may fail to improve with nonoperative therapy and require surgical procedures. At abdominal exploration an acceptable approach to the pancreatic duct disruption involves suture ligation with omental patching.

Answer: BC

 

50. Which of the following statements about adenocarcinoma of the pancreas is/are correct?

A. It is the fifth most common cause of cancer death in the U.S.

B. Most cases occur in the body and tail of the pancreas, making distal pancreatectomy the most commonly performed resectional therapy.

C. For cancers of the head of the pancreas resected by pancreaticoduodenectomy, prognosis appears to be independent of nodal status, margin status, or tumor diameter.

D. The most accurate screening test involves surveillance of stool for carbohydrate antigen (CA 19–9).

Answer: A

 

51. A 35-year-old woman presents with episodes of obtundation, somnolence, and tachycardia. An insulinoma is suspected based on a random serum glucose test value of 38 mg. per dl. Which of the following statements is/are true?

A. The most important diagnostic study for insulinoma is an oral glucose tolerance test.

B. It may be helpful to perform ERCP in an effort to localize the tumor.

C. Most patients with insulinoma present with extensive disease, rendering them only rarely resectable or curable.

D. An important component of the preoperative evaluation in patients with presumed insulinoma involves confirming elevated C-peptide or proinsulin levels and screening for anti-insulin antibodies.

Answer: D

 

52. Which of the following statements about gastrinoma (Zollinger-Ellison syndrome) is/are correct?

A. As many as 75% of gastrinoma patients have sporadic disease; 25% have gastrinoma associated with multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1).

B. Extrapancreatic gastrinomas are common, and exploration should include careful assessment of the duodenum and peripancreatic lymph nodes.

C. Diarrhea may be a prominent presenting feature of some patients with gastrinoma.

D. Before elective operation acid-reducing medications such as omeprazole should be administered.

Answer: ABCD