Orthopaedic Nurses Certification Board (ONCB) Metabolic/Inflammatory/Tumors Practice Exam

A patient with Paget's disease might experience which of the following due to cranial nerve involvement?

1. Vision problems

2. Loss of taste

3. Decreased sensitivity

4. Joint swelling

The correct answer is: Vision problems

A patient with Paget's disease can experience vision problems due to cranial nerve involvement, particularly when the disease affects the skull. Paget's disease is a metabolic disorder characterized by abnormal and excessive bone remodeling. When it affects the skull, it can lead to enlargement and distortion of the skull bones, which may impinge on cranial nerves. The optic nerve, responsible for vision, can be affected by this bony overgrowth, leading to visual disturbances such as blurred vision or other eyesight issues. This connection between cranial nerve involvement and vision problems highlights the complications that can arise from the localized changes in bone structure associated with Paget's disease. Other options like loss of taste, decreased sensitivity, and joint swelling may not have the same direct relationship with cranial nerve involvement as vision problems do in this context. Loss of taste, for instance, is primarily associated with dysfunction of the facial nerve or glossopharyngeal nerve, while decreased sensitivity and joint swelling might stem from different underlying issues unrelated to cranial nerve entrapments specifically seen in Paget's disease.