Practice Quiz - Ear & Nasal Cavity
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  1. The entry of bacteria through which space could lead to an infection in the mastoid air cells:
    Auditory (nasopharyngeal) tube
    Cochlea
    External acoustic meatus
    Internal acoustic meatus
    Sacculus
  2. Which structure is attached to the center of the tympanic membrane?
    Foot plate of the stapes
    Handle (manubrium) of the malleus
    Long process of the incus
    Tragus
    Utricle
  3. A 45-year old woman with recurrent left middle ear infection (otitis media) complained of partial dryness of her mouth to her ENT surgeon. Taste sensation and hearing were normal. After a thorough clinical examination at the hospital, the doctor concluded that the infection must have spread to a component of the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX) that supplies the parotid gland. On which of the following walls of the middle ear is this nerve component located?
    Anterior
    Lateral
    Medial
    Posterior
    Roof
  4. A 3-year-old girl ruptured her eardrum when she inserted a pencil into her ear. Her mother took her to the emergency department after noticing that the child was crying and complaining of pain in her ear with a few drops of blood in the external auditory meatus. The attending doctor examined the child for possible injury to a nerve that runs across the eardrum. The most likely nerve to be injured is the:
    Auricular branch of the vagus
    Chorda tympani
    Glossopharyngeal (CN IX)
    Lesser petrosal
    Trigeminal (CN V)
  5. An elderly patient with chronic otitis media (middle ear infection) might have all the following complications EXCEPT:
    Inabilty to chew food due to injury to the mandibular division of the trigeminal nerve (CN V)
    Loss of taste in the anterior part of the tongue due to injury to the chorda tympani nerve
    Mastoiditis
    Paralysis of facial muscles due an injury to the facial nerve (CN VII)
    Some degree of deafness due to damage to the ossicles
  6. A patient with a facial nerve paralysis suffers from inability to dampen loud noises (hyperacusis) due to denervation of which muscle?
    Posterior belly of digastric
    Stapedius
    Tensor tympani
    Stylohyoid muscle
  7. All of the following are true about the middle ear EXCEPT:
    The joints between ossicles are synovial
    The chorda tympani nerve is related to the lateral wall
    The facial nerve passes in a canal situated in the medial and anterior walls
    The auditory tube connects the nasopharynx with the anterior wall
    Its mucous membrane is supplied by the glossopharyngeal nerve (CN IX)
  8. A patient has sustained a fracture to the base of the skull. Thorough examination concluded that the right greater petrosal nerve, among other structures, has been injured. This conclusion was based on which of the patient's signs:
    Partial dryness of the mouth due to lack of salivary secretions from the submandibular and sublingual glands
    Partial dryness of the mouth due to lack of salivary secretions from the parotid gland
    Dryness of the right cornea due to lack of lacrimal secretion
    Loss of taste sensation from the right anterior 2/3rd of the tongue
    Loss of general sensation from the right anterior 2/3rd of the tongue
  9. The location of the otic ganglion is in the:
    Pterygopalatine fossa
    Internal ear
    Infratemporal fossa
    Middle cranial fossa
    None of the above
  10. A patient complains of loss of hearing in the right ear. Examination reveals ankylosis (otosclerosis) of the footplate of the stapes to the surrounding bone. Which part of the bony labyrinth is involved?
    Aditus ad antrum
    Cochlear (round) window
    Cochlear duct
    Internal acoustic meatus
    Vestibular (oval) window
  11. The geniculate ganglion is the sensory ganglion of which nerve:
    Facial
    Glossopharyngeal
    Trigeminal
    Vagus
    Vestibulocochlear
  12. Repeated middle ear infections have destroyed the tympanic plexus in the middle ear cavity. The loss of preganglionic parasympathetic fibers that pass through the plexus diminish production of:
    Mucus in the nasal cavity
    Mucus on the soft palate
    Saliva by the parotid gland
    Saliva by the submandibular and sublingual glands
    Tears by the lacrimal gland
  13. The soft palate is active in all of the following except:
    Breathing
    Chewing
    Coughing
    Swallowing
    Yawning
  14. Most paranasal sinuses and/or air cells drain, directly or indirectly, into the:
    Inferior meatus
    Middle meatus
    Superior meatus
    Nasal vestibule
    Sphenoethmoidal recess
  15. Irrigation of the maxillary sinus through its opening is a supportive measure to accelerate the resolution of a maxillary sinus infection. Which of the following nasal spaces is the most likely approach to the sinus opening?
    choana
    inferior meatus
    middle meatus
    sphenoethmoidal recess
    superior meatus
  16. In assessing a deep laceration of the right side of the nose, the attending physician determines that the cartilage on the lateral side of the nostril has been cut. What cartilage was injured?
    Accessory
    Alar
    Lateral
    Septal
    None of the above
  17. The nasolacrimal duct empties into which part of the nasal cavity?
    Hiatus semilunaris
    Inferior meatus
    Middle meatus
    Sphenoethmoidal recess
    Vestibule
  18. The pharyngeal tonsils, or adenoids, may become inflamed and in serious cases need to be removed. Where would the physician search for them?
    In the tonsillar fossa
    In the pharyngeal recess
    In the piriform recess
    In the roof of the nasopharynx
    Upon the dorsal surface of the tongue
  19. The middle nasal concha is part of what bone?
    Ethmoid bone
    Maxilla
    Palatine bone
    Sphenoid bone
    Vomer
  20. A 23-year-old man comes to you complaining that he can't stop crying, i.e. tears regularly run down the right side of his face. You suspect that one of the lacrimal ducts on the right side of the face is blocked. You look into an endoscope to see if the nasolacrimal duct is blocked. Into which part of the nasal cavity would you look to see the opening of the duct?
    Hiatus semilunaris
    Inferior meatus
    Middle meatus
    Sphenoethmoidal recess
    Superior meatus
  21. Which structure forms a border of the tonsillar fossa?
    Torus tubarius
    Palatopharyngeal fold
    Salpingopharyngeal fold
    Lateral glossoepiglottic fold
    Medial pterygoid plate
  22. The communication between the pharynx and the nasal cavity is known as the:
    Aditus
    Auditory tube
    Choanae
    Fauces
    Piriform recess