? about MRI scan with and without contrast on Friday...

[tjj3761]

Hi everybody,

It has been awhile since I've been back on the forum.  I hope everybody is doing well.

I had a question about the MRI brain W/WO contrast I just had Friday?

I have had within the past 6 months 2 acute onsets of face/head pain so severe I ended up both times in the
ER for Dilaudid shots, etc.  I just had my second episode last Monday night.

My question is this.  I have had probably 8 to 10 MRIs over the past 10 years while awaiting my DX, but Friday was
the first time that at the end of the scan, I had to stay in the unit for I'm estimating 5 minutes at least.  There were
no sounds or anything, and I knew the scan was complete.  At the time, I was just trying to stay calm and think of
the beach or something, but on the other hand, I was thinking where is she and what is going on?

After thinking about this, after the fact, I came to the conclusion that maybe something was seen on the contrast part of the MRI at the end and that she was consulting with the radiologist for possible further scanning, although I did not have any further images done.

Can anyone give me some insight?

Thanks,

Terri

[dogmum]

Well, my MRI showed no changes, but I assume I still have MS. ;)  I hate getting them done too and am sooooo glad to have it over with for this year.  Here's to the hopes that neither one of us is back in the tube anytime soon! :)  

Good luck and I hope your neuro comes through with those answers.  

Laura

[tjj3761]

Hi Laura,

Yes, I agree.  I was thinking too much into it.  I always get anxious every time he wants another MRI....(drives me crazy).  Sorry that your MRI didn't show anything either.  My neuro told me last week that there are unknown causes with this disease is what he basically said.

Best of luck to you as well, Laura....

Terri

[dogmum]

Hey Terri, looks like we were both in the tube Friday.  They left me sitting in the tube for awhile this time too, but my MRI showed no changes.  As Lulu said, they probably wanted to check and make sure they had everything they needed as the scans themselves are often done by a tech and then read later by a radiologist.  I hope your neuro has some answers for you.  

Laura

[tjj3761]

Thanks lulu,

The mri showed nothing, no lesions yet, except showed sphenoid sinus disease.

My trigeminal neuralgia pain is a lot different than the sphenoid sinus pain and symptoms.... I told ess on another post that I feel radiologists do overread and under read the reports and do not compare to previous scans.

I see my neuro next week for follow up visit, so will see what he says about this.

Thanks so much for your help....

Terri

[Lulu54]

You're welcome, Kyle.

Terri, as for that down time in the tube, a lot of times they have the radiologist take a quick look and make sure the images are adequate for their needs.  There's no sense in sending you home if they are missing pieces of the puzzle. I hope you see the neuro soon for answers - and hoping this set gives you some answers, too!
Laura

[tjj3761]

Thanks

[kwarendorf]

Hi tjj -
Nothing would have shown up on the contrast portion of the MRI that did not show up on the non contrast part. All lesions will show up without contrast. Lesions that are new or active within the last 42 days (thanks Lulu!) will light up in the contrast MRI.

The delay could have been for any number of innocent reasons. They could have been reviewing the images to make sure they got all the pics that were ordered. The tech may have been dealing with another patient etc.

I wouldn't read too much into it :-)

Kyle