Mystery Skeletal Disease Case Study
Directions: You and your team just began your 1st year of residency and started
working at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. Today, you are doing your clinical rounds in
the Orthopedics wing. It is your Team’s Job to correctly diagnose the following patients
and their mystery diseases. All of the patients have a skeletal system disease, some rare
and some common. Do not be fooled by a fractured bone, simply just being a fractured
bone. Upon your discovery, you will type up a diagnostic sheet on a word doc and
include the following pieces of information:
- Diagnosis (Disease Name)
- A picture of the disease
- One form of treatment you would prescribe your patient
- 2 separate pieces of evidence that support your claim
- One source that confirms your thinking. Do not type Google.com. An actual
source please 😊
You may create your responses in any format your group would like (paragraph,
sentences, bullet points, table, etc.) Once you have typed up a response for each patient,
save the document and have one of your group members turn it in. Be sure to have
everyone’s name on the document and make your responses clear and obvious. Good
Luck and happy solving!
Patient #1
Henry, a 1 year old is being seen today for immense pain. This is his 3rd hospital trip
over the last year for the same reason: pain and inability to move that potion of his body.
After, an x-ray confirms he has broken another bone. This is the 3rd broken bone. After
careful analysis you see tiny fractures on all the nearby bone as well and that the sclera
of his eyes show a slight bluish gray in coloration.
Patient #2
Max is a 56 year-old male who has been complaining of sudden, severe attacks on the
bottom of his foot and his big toe. When you examine his foot, you notice the toe is
swollen and tender. He says its unbearable to put weight on it. You call for an X-ray, but
it comes out clear with no fractures. You ask him a couple questions about his foot and
he says it happens almost every night and his diet consists of mainly fish and high-sugar
foods.
Patient #3
Nancy, 16, has always had bad posture for as long as she can remember. She said she has
trouble standing upright. Her ballet teacher is always correcting her in class because she
is off her center in position. She difficulty keeping her shoulders level and distributing
her weight evenly in both hips. After an X-ray, her spine is shown to have horizontal Sshape to it.
Patient #4
Edna, 85, is coming in today for lower back and hip pain. She can’t remember when it
started. “It must have been a while ago”, she said. “I just thought it would eventually go
away and it never did.” After taking a medical history you find out she has a calcium
deficiency and only eats two small meals a day. You take an X-ray and notice small
hairline fractures on her hips and lower vertebrae. She said she did not fall or do
anything sudden to get these fractures.
Patient #5
Carlos, who is 60, noticed large lump on his patella bone (knee). The bump was
swelling and red. He finds it difficult to lift his leg or bare weight on it. There is a history
of cancer in the family.
Patient #6
Makayla is a 19-year old female who was seen in the ER early today for frequent
uncontrollable nosebleeds. She said she experiences a lot of pain when she has nose
bleeds. After asking some questions on her background, she said she is a light sleeper
and often wakes herself from the noisy breathing she makes. Whenever she is sick, both
sides of her nasal cavity become extremely blocked for hours. The ER refers her to you
and you can see that is quite upset and using a lot of energy to continue breathing and
speaking to you.
Patient #7
Rose, a 67 year old concert pianist is coming to the office today experiencing burning,
tingling and numbness in her fingers and wrist. She says she’s been putting off coming
to the hospital because she’s been practicing several hours a day for her upcoming
concert. After running a quick physical test, you notice her “grasping” motion is quite
slow and her piano fingering movements are delayed.
Patient #8
Kaleb, who is 10, is being seen today for his legs. He is having a difficult time standing
on them because they buckle often when he has them locked. At first glance, they appear
to have a slight bend outwards. After a brief history, you find out that he has a vitamin D
deficiency, IBS, and does not like to eat fish or eggs. He is also in the 5th percentile for
height and weight. His X-ray does not show any fractures and he is able to walk and run
with concentration.
SAMPLE Diagnostic Sheet for Patients. You are welcome to create your own diagnostic
sheet/ written response for each patient, but this may help you organize your thoughts
and meet all requirements of the assignment.
Patient # _____________
Clues given:
Possible Diagnosis:
Picture of Disease:
Treatment (Any healing time if applicable):
Sources of references:
-
ANSWER KEY- you can choose to provide a list of possible diseases for your students
(maybe about 20-25 diseases to keep it interesting). OR leave it up to your students to
come up with the answers.
Mystery Diseases Patient Answers
Options:
1) Osteogenesis Imperfecta
2) Gout
3) Scoliosis
4) Osteoporosis
5) Osteosarcoma
6) Deviated Septum
7) Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
8) Spina Bifida
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gout/symptoms-causes/syc-20372897
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/osteogenesis-imperfecta
https://www.webmd.com/back-pain/what-are-the-symptoms-of-scoliosis
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/osteoporosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351968
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/15041-osteosarcoma
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/deviated-septum/symptoms-causes/syc20351710
https://www.webmd.com/pain-management/carpal-tunnel/carpal-tunnel-syndrome
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/spina-bifida/