Case report A 77 year old woman was admitted with a three month history of worsening back pain, malaise, and anorexia. On direct questioning, she reported that she had suVered from back pain for four years. The thoracolumbar radiograph four years earlier showed T6/7 vertebral collapse, mild scoliosis, and degenerative change of the lumbar spine (fig 1); but other investigations at that time inc...