American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam (ABS QE) Practice Test

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam with our interactive quizzes. Utilize detailed flashcards and multiple-choice questions to enhance your learning. Each question is complemented with hints and explanations to help you ace the exam!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

What is the clinical manifestation of decreased copper levels?

Anemia
Cardiomyopathies
Pancytopenia
Neuropathies

The correct answer is: Pancytopenia

The clinical manifestation of decreased copper levels most commonly leads to anemia. Copper plays a vital role in iron metabolism and is essential for the proper functioning of enzymes involved in the synthesis of hemoglobin. A deficiency can result in a form of microcytic anemia that mimics iron deficiency anemia but may not respond to iron therapy, highlighting the need for copper for iron utilization. While decreased copper levels could potentially contribute to other conditions, such as cardiovascular issues or neuropathies, the direct and most common manifestation associated with copper deficiency is anemia. It's important to understand that each of the other conditions may stem from different underlying causes that are not primarily related to copper deficiency, which solidifies anemia as the most direct clinical manifestation of low copper levels.