02-02-2017, 06:23 AM
A 58-year-old man with no previous past medical history presents to the emergency department complaining of dizziness for one week accompanied by headache, nausea, generalized weakness, decreased appetite, and weight loss. He is a 30-pack-year smoker and denies cough, shortness of breath, or hemoptysis. The patient appears cachectic on physical examination and is in no acute distress. Vital signs are normal. Physical examination is remarkable for diminished breath sounds in all lung fields and symmetrically enlarged breasts. The neurologic examination is normal.
Chest x-ray shows hyperinflated lungs with a peripheral lesion in the right upper lobe and a central left-upper-lobe lesion. The head CT scan reveals a left posterior fossa lesion with edema and mass effect. Chest CT shows a 5-cm mass in the periphery of the right upper lobe and a 3-cm mass within 2 cm of the carina in the left middle lobe. Mediastinoscopy and biopsy are performed, and the biopsy shows large-cell cancer.
How would you best manage this patient at the present time?
(A) Preoperative pulmonary function testing (PFT)
(B) Radiation therapy to the brain and dexamethasone
© Radiation therapy to lung lesions
(D) Combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy
Chest x-ray shows hyperinflated lungs with a peripheral lesion in the right upper lobe and a central left-upper-lobe lesion. The head CT scan reveals a left posterior fossa lesion with edema and mass effect. Chest CT shows a 5-cm mass in the periphery of the right upper lobe and a 3-cm mass within 2 cm of the carina in the left middle lobe. Mediastinoscopy and biopsy are performed, and the biopsy shows large-cell cancer.
How would you best manage this patient at the present time?
(A) Preoperative pulmonary function testing (PFT)
(B) Radiation therapy to the brain and dexamethasone
© Radiation therapy to lung lesions
(D) Combination of chemotherapy and radiation therapy