Cervical spondylotic myelopathy is a complex condition with subtle history and examination findings that mimic other conditions. Primary care physician assistants often are the first providers to evaluate these patients. This article describes cervical spondylotic myelopathy, its diagnosis and management, and recent data that offer strong evidence that patients who undergo surgical decompression show significant improvement over patients who are treated conservatively.

Calcinosis cutis is the aberrant deposition of insoluble calcified salts in cutaneous tissue that occurs in association with a variety of diseases. A relatively uncommon disorder, it can range in severity from mild to debilitating. This article describes a patient with a long history of dermatomyositis who developed multiple calcific lesions in the extremities that did not respond to conservative therapies and eventually required multiple surgical interventions.

Although rare, thoracic osteomyelitis can occur when toxins from a catfish spine impalement to the hand spread via the blood. This article describes diagnosis and management of this condition in a man who required hospitalization for debilitating back pain that developed 3 weeks after the initial injury.