Free CPTC® Examination Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the CPTC® Examination practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1During a hospital education session, a coordinator is asked who makes the medical-suitability determination for organ donation after a referral. Which entity has that responsibility under the hospital participation standard?

   1. A.The organ procurement organizationCorrect answer: A
   2. B.The referring hospital's ethics committee
   3. C.The hospital's tissue-bank partner
   4. D.The medical examiner's office

   Explanation: The regulation states, "The OPO determines medical suitability for organ donation". The hospital refers the patient; the OPO makes this donation-suitability determination.

   Reference: 42 CFR 482.45 — Organ, tissue, and eye procurement — § 482.45(a)(1)

2. 2A potential donor is an infant born prematurely. Under the 2023 consensus BD/DNC guideline, what is the minimum corrected gestational age at which evaluation may be undertaken?

   1. A.40 weeks
   2. B.34 weeks
   3. C.32 weeks
   4. D.37 weeksCorrect answer: D

   Explanation: The consensus guideline states, "BD/DNC cannot be determined in infants younger than 37 weeks, corrected gestational age, during BD/DNC evaluation". The minimum is 37 weeks corrected gestational age; chronological age alone does not satisfy this condition.

   Reference: Pediatric and Adult Brain Death/Death by Neurologic Criteria Consensus Guideline — Recommendation Statement 2

3. 3A coordinator reviews the planned timing of two independent BD/DNC examinations in a 10-year-old. What minimum interval between the examinations is recommended by the consensus guideline?

   1. A.24 hours
   2. B.36 hours
   3. C.12 hoursCorrect answer: C
   4. D.6 hours

   Explanation: The guideline specifies "a minimum interval of 12 hours should separate the 2 examinations". The pediatric interexamination interval is at least 12 hours; this differs from the observation period before beginning evaluation.

   Reference: Pediatric and Adult Brain Death/Death by Neurologic Criteria Consensus Guideline — Recommendation Statement 13d

4. 4A covered hospital receives an OPO request for donor medical information to facilitate cadaveric organ donation. Under the HIPAA donation provision, what authorization condition applies to this disclosure?

   1. A.It may proceed under the donation permission without a separate individual authorizationCorrect answer: A
   2. B.It requires a separate signed authorization from the personal representative before disclosure
   3. C.It requires a judicial disclosure order covering the requested donor information
   4. D.It requires an institutional review board's authorization waiver covering the requested information

   Explanation: "A covered entity may use or disclose protected health information to organ procurement organizations or other entities engaged in the procurement, banking, or transplantation of cadaveric organs, eyes, or tissue for the purpose of facilitating organ, eye or tissue donation and transplantation." Section 164.512(h) supplies permission for this donation-facilitating disclosure. Personal-representative authorization, court orders and research waivers are genuine disclosure mechanisms, but this specific permission does not require them.

   Reference: 45 CFR 164.512 — Uses and Disclosures Without Authorization — § 164.512(h)

5. 5A hospital's donation protocol requires notification only after death has been pronounced. Which referral population must the coordinator add to meet the federal hospital standard?

   1. A.Patients whose tissue culture is positive
   2. B.Patients whose death is imminentCorrect answer: B
   3. C.Patients whose advance directive is unsigned
   4. D.Patients whose transplant evaluation is pending

   Explanation: The standard requires timely notification of "individuals whose death is imminent or who have died in the hospital." Therefore, referral cannot be restricted to patients already pronounced dead.

   Reference: 42 CFR 482.45 — Organ, tissue, and eye procurement — § 482.45(a)(1)

6. 6An OPO coordinator reviews a referral with coma, apnea, and absent brainstem reflexes, but the cause of the neurologic condition has not been identified. What should the coordinator expect under the consensus guideline?

   1. A.Further diagnostic evaluation before BD/DNC evaluationCorrect answer: A
   2. B.An ancillary perfusion study as the first BD/DNC evaluation
   3. C.A second clinical examination to establish BD/DNC
   4. D.An apnea test as the first step in BD/DNC evaluation

   Explanation: The consensus guideline states, "Clinicians should conduct further diagnostic evaluation and not undertake evaluation for BD/DNC if a patient is comatose, apneic, and has absent brainstem reflexes, and there is not an identified mechanism of brain injury that is known to lead to BD/DNC". An identified mechanism capable of causing the permanent injury is required; a test cannot replace that prerequisite.

   Reference: Pediatric and Adult Brain Death/Death by Neurologic Criteria Consensus Guideline — Recommendation Statement 7b

7. 7During a potential donor's BD/DNC examination, the clinician tests the pupillary response to bright light. Which finding meets the guideline's requirement for this component?

   1. A.No response in either eyeCorrect answer: A
   2. B.No response in the right eye with a reactive left pupil
   3. C.No response in the left eye with a reactive right pupil
   4. D.A sluggish response in each eye

   Explanation: The guideline specifies "no pupillary responses to bright light bilaterally". The required finding is bilateral absence, rather than unilateral absence or sluggish reactivity.

   Reference: Pediatric and Adult Brain Death/Death by Neurologic Criteria Consensus Guideline — Recommendation Statement 17

8. 8When reviewing deceased-donor allocation inputs, which candidate characteristic receives the explicit protection of OPTN's nondiscrimination rule?

   1. A.ABO blood type
   2. B.Body size
   3. C.Medical urgency
   4. D.Financial statusCorrect answer: D

   Explanation: "Allocation of deceased donor organs must not be influenced positively or negatively by political influence, national origin, ethnicity, race, sex, religion, or financial status." Financial status must neither improve nor worsen allocation priority. Blood type, size and medical urgency are genuine clinical allocation inputs and do not have this blanket financial-status protection.

   Reference: OPTN Policies — 5.4.A, Nondiscrimination in Organ Allocation

9. 9A nurse is preparing to serve as a hospital-designated donation requestor. The course addresses approaching potential donor families and requesting donation, and was designed with the tissue and eye-bank community. Which organization must offer or approve this course?

   1. A.The hospital's institutional review board
   2. B.The designated organ procurement organizationCorrect answer: B
   3. C.The regional histocompatibility laboratory
   4. D.The hospital's graduate medical education office

   Explanation: "has completed a course offered or approved by the OPO" The designated OPO must offer or approve the specified requestor course. Research oversight, laboratory services and medical education approval do not substitute for that authority.

   Reference: 42 CFR 482.45 — Organ, tissue, and eye procurement — § 482.45(a)(3)

10. 10A referred patient intermittently breathes above the ventilator rate, and the team confirms these are spontaneous breaths rather than ventilator autocycling. How does this finding affect BD/DNC evaluation?

    1. A.It calls for a second examiner to complete BD/DNC determination
    2. B.It precludes BD/DNC testing while spontaneous breathing persistsCorrect answer: B
    3. C.It permits BD/DNC determination after an extended apnea test
    4. D.It calls for ancillary testing to complete BD/DNC determination

    Explanation: The consensus guideline states, "Patients with any evidence of consciousness or preservation of any brainstem reflex or who display motor movements that are mediated by the brain or brainstem or are spontaneously breathing do not meet established criteria and must not undergo BD/DNC testing". Verified spontaneous breathing demonstrates brainstem function and prevents proceeding with this evaluation.

    Reference: Pediatric and Adult Brain Death/Death by Neurologic Criteria Consensus Guideline — Recommendation Statement 5