Deck 17: Spine Patterns

Question 1

Which infection is most likely to result in paraspinal calcification secondary to abscess formation?

A) Salmonella
B) Staphylococcus aureus
C) Echinococcus granulosus
D) Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Answer 1

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Question 2

If Paget disease was the underlying cause for the abnormality present in Figure 17-4, which radiographic finding would likely also be observed?

A) Vertebra plana
B) Narrowed intervertebral disc
C) Vertebral enlargement
D) Paraspinal ligament ossification

Answer 2

Vertebral enlargement

Question 3

If the sacroiliac joint in this patient were destroyed, which of the following diagnoses should be considered?

A) Neuropathic spine
B) Trauma
C) Seronegative spondyloarthropathy
D) Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis

Answer 3

Seronegative spondyloarthropathy

Question 4

In patients with sickle cell disease, the underlying cause of vertebral body morphology similar to that observed in Figure 17-1 is __________?

A) Avascular necrosis
B) Insufficiency fracture
C) Underperfusion of the vertebral body
D) Prolapse of the nucleus pulposus

Question 5

Which of the following diagnostic imaging modalities would be the most helpful in identifying additional sites of involvement in the skeleton?

A) Diagnostic ultrasound
B) Computed tomography
C) Radionuclide scintigraphy
D) Skeletal x-ray survey

Question 6

Which of the following is the most common etiology for the change in vertebral body shape identified in Figure 17-1?

A) Osteoporosis
B) Thalassemia
C) Osteomalacia
D) Congenital abnormality

Question 7

Which of the following diagnoses would be most likely if radiographs showed multiple levels of endobones?

A) Albers-Schonberg disease
B) Paget disease
C) Fractures
D) Myelofibrosis

Question 8

In Figure 17-2A, the curvilinear calcifications are diagnostic for:

A) Paraspinal abscess
B) Aneurysm
C) Expansile spine lesion
D) Neurogenic tumor

Question 9

Patients older than __________ years of age are typically affected by the pathology observed in these radiographs.

A) 10
B) 20
C) 30
D) 40

Question 10

What pattern of vertebral body shape is present in Figure 17-1?

A) Wedged
B) Biconcave
C) Posterior scalloped
D) Pancake

Question 11

Which radiographic sign is present in Figure 17-3?

A) Winking owl
B) Fish mouth vertebra
C) Empty vertebra
D) Ivory vertebra

Question 12

Which of the following is the most important radiographic pattern of disease present in Figure 17-2?

A) Paraspinal mass
B) Narrow intervertebral disc
C) Sacroiliac joint disease
D) Vertebral endplate alteration

Question 13

Which of the following is the least likely cause of the abnormality in Figure 17-4?

A) Paget disease
B) Lymphoma
C) Osteoblastic metastasis
D) Osteopetrosis

Question 14

Of the following, which is the most common cause of the salient abnormality in Figure 17-3?

A) Chordoma
B) Hemangioma
C) Metastasis
D) Multiple myeloma

Question 15

Which of the following diseases is a genetic disorder resulting in defective collagen metabolism that may result in osteopenic vertebrae with this morphology?

A) Renal osteodystrophy
B) Homocystinuria
C) Gaucher disease
D) Notochordal persistency

Question 16

Which radiographic pattern of disease is represented in Figure 17-4?

A) Osteolytic spine
B) Radiodense ivory vertebra
C) Narrow intervertebral disc
D) Anterior vertebral body scalloping

Question 17

The bony outgrowths projecting from the endplates of the lumbar spine are representative of __________.

A) Ankylosing spondylitis
B) Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis
C) Psoriatic arthropathy
D) Spondylosis deformans

Question 18

The most common reason for this vertebral body morphology in a 75-year-old female is __________.

A) Malnutrition
B) Senile osteoporosis
C) Osteomalacia
D) Hyperparathyroidism

Question 19

Which of the following is the most significant radiographic pattern of disease present in Figure 17-3?

A) Narrow intervertebral disc
B) Anterior scalloped vertebra
C) Paraspinal mass
D) Osteolytic lesion of the spine

Question 20

If an expansile lesion were observed in a 30-year-old patient in the same area of concern as in Figure 17-3, which of the following diagnoses would be the most likely diagnosis?

A) Aneurysmal bone cyst
B) Eosinophilic granuloma
C) Lymphoma
D) Leukemia