A 55-Year-Old Man Is Being Evaluated for a 4-Week History

question 117

Multiple Choice

A 55-year-old man is being evaluated for a 4-week history of right shoulder pain.  The pain worsens when actively abducting the shoulder or when lying on the shoulder at night.  The patient also has weakness with abduction and external rotation of the right shoulder.  He has attempted treatment with over-the-counter analgesics with limited relief.  MRI of the shoulder shows a partial rotator cuff tear, and the patient is scheduled for surgical repair.  Immediately before the surgery, he receives anesthesia with an injection between the right anterior and middle scalene muscles in order to block the C3 through C7 nerve roots of the cervical and brachial plexuses.  Which of the following muscles is most likely to be paralyzed due to the anesthesia?

• A)Cricothyroid
• B)Diaphragm
• C)Intercostal
• D)Platysma
• E)Sternocleidomastoid

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Definitions:

Receptive Fields

Specific areas in the visual system where stimuli activate a neuron or a group of neurons, crucial for the processing of visual information.

Visual Cortex

The visual cortex is the part of the cerebral cortex of the brain that processes visual information, located in the occipital lobe.

Fovea

A small depression in the retina of the eye where visual acuity is highest, due to a high concentration of cones and absence of blood vessels.

Representation

the act of portraying, depicting, or standing in for something, often used in the context of mental models or symbols.