Female, 76 years old. Reason: Neck and shoulder pain with fever History: neck and shoulder pain Cervical spine: The lower cervical spine is not well-seen on the lateral view due to overlying anatomy. Severe degenerative disc disease affects C4-5, C5-6, and C6-7. There is mild multilevel facet joint arthritis. Apparent narrowing of the neuroforamina on the left may in part be an artifact of patient positioning. There is loss of the normal cervical lordosis, but otherwise alignment is within normal limits. Severe osteoarthrosis affects the right shoulder. Calcifications in the neck lateral to the cervical spine likely reside in the carotid vasculature.Thoracic spine: The bones appear demineralized. There is a mild rightward curvature of the thoracic spine which may in part be an artifact of patient positioning. There is mild/moderate multilevel degenerative disc disease. The T11-12 disc space is not well seen, which we suspect is due to relatively severe degenerative disc disease. However, if there is clinical concern for discitis at this location, MRI is recommended for further evaluation.
1.Degenerative arthritic changes as described above.2.The T11-12 disc space is not well seen, which we suspect is due to relatively severe degenerative disc disease. However, if there is clinical concern for discitis, MRI is recommended for further evaluation.