Correct!
5. All of the above

The MRI of the cervical and thoracic spine shows near complete destruction and collapse of T3 (arrow) with boney erosions of T2-7 (Figure 2).

Figure 2. MRI of spine showing the near complete destruction and collapse of T3 (arrow).

The lesions are lytic and the most common cause of a lytic lesion in this patient would be metastatic lung or breast cancer. The neurosurgeon recommends spine stabilization surgery. A mammogram is negative but a chest radiograph showed a question of a left infrahilar mass. A CT scan is performed and a representative image from the CT scan is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Representative image in soft tissue windows.

Which of the following are indicated at this time? (Click on the correct answer to proceed to the fourth of seven pages)

1. Biopsy of the lesion.
2. Hold spine stabilization surgery until completion of the work-up.
3. CT scan of the brain.
4. 1 and 3
5. All of the above
   

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