Flair vs. t1 with contrast

Hello all.

I read the section about how MRI's detect lesions.  My question is, which one is better?  The T1 with contrast or the flair?  I ask because I have my disc from my MRI this past Monday.  I don't see too many bright spots on the film taken with the contrast, but the flair one seems to have more bright spots compared to my last MRI.  

I won't see my neuro until September 10, which seems like an eternity!  I would love to have the radiologists report. I wonder if my neuro's office would send it to me?

Thanks for any replies regarding the MRI!

[Quixotic1]

?????  You should be getting both techniques as a matter of course.  I have never (read that NEVER) heard of doing either just T1 or T2 alone.  The FLAIR technique is used along with the T2 to visualize small lesions that are close to areas of fluid - spinal fluid for us) which means mostly those periventricular lesions and spinal cord lesions.

The ventricles are spinal fluid-filled spaces in the interior of the brain.

BTW - the spinal fluid circulates constantly throught the whole central nervous system, bathing the cord the exterior of the brain and the interior of the brain.  It is continuously produced in one spot and reabsorbed in a different spot.

Quix

[jensequitur]

Hmmmm...  Well, the film with contrast shows your active lesions.  So the good news is that you don't have a lot of active lesions right now, which means you're in remission...  although it may not feel that way.  FLAIR is best for picking up lesions close to areas of CSF, so the radiologist won't mistake them for fluid spaces.

[Pr42022]

mj,

your neuro's office certainly should send you your radiologist's report if you ask.  It's yours!  But realize you may not understand it all until you discuss with your neuro.

Good luck, hope you're okay and get the info you want soon.

[jensequitur]

My office sent me my radiologist's report, no questions asked.  I asked for it after I realized the clinic had a 24-hour turnaround on the report!  I had been waiting for a week and a half.

[mj111169]

Hi again.

I called my neuro's office.  The girl called me back and said I don't have a records release form in my file. She can fax one to me, then they would have someone copy it and mail it to me.  SO I will do that.  

Thanks for your replies.  I don't know why they give us these films.  Don't they realize some of us drive ourselves crazy trying to figure out what is on these films?  LOL  

[Sailorsong]

With the CD I have gotten from my MRI it contained both the images and the report,

Dennis

[jensequitur]

MJ, did they just give those films to you?  Or did you have to ask for them?  Every time I've had an MRI, I had to ask for the films/CD.

[Quixotic1]

?????  You should be getting both techniques as a matter of course.  I have never (read that NEVER) heard of doing either just T1 or T2 alone.  The FLAIR technique is used along with the T2 to visualize small lesions that are close to areas of fluid - spinal fluid for us) which means mostly those periventricular lesions and spinal cord lesions.

The ventricles are spinal fluid-filled spaces in the interior of the brain.

BTW - the spinal fluid circulates constantly throught the whole central nervous system, bathing the cord the exterior of the brain and the interior of the brain.  It is continuously produced in one spot and reabsorbed in a different spot.

Quix

[mj111169]

I did have T1, T1 with contrast, T2 and flair.  I should have been more specific.  I guess I was just trying to figure out if I need to be concerned about the FLAIR showing more bright spots than my last MRI.  I didn't see anything on the T1 with contrast, but then again, I don't know exactly what I am looking for!

The radiology office handed me the cd's before I left.  My last MRI, at the same place,  mailed me the CD the next day.  

No report!  They said I have to have my Doctor tell me the results.  I am just going to wait until the 10th.  I have been feeling pretty good the past week or so and hopefully it continues.  

Thanks again for all your replies!

[jensequitur]

Naw, it's exactly what the writeup on MRIs says - FLAIR is simply to eliminate CSF from the picture, so you're just getting brain matter.  

If you'd like to see some pictures with lesions, check out my profile - I've got some 3T MRI pics posted with lesions showing, so you can get an idea of what a 'positive' result is.

[Audrey_M]

Thanks for posting your MRI slides for us, along with some descriptions.

I wish that others would do the same. I've posted mine and after looking at yours, I should probably post more. I was reviewing my slides today, trying to make sense of some things I have learned here along with discrepancies between radiologists reports and the doctor's interpretation.

I went back to look at my slides because my neuro said that the size, shape and position of my lesions were not consistent with MS. With the discs that they give you now, there's that handy dandy little tool where you can actually measure the size of lesions. Granted, I'm not a pro, but it seems to me that I had a number of lesions that were more than punctate in size.

Very difficult and dangerous for a layman to do, but knowledge is power and the more we learn, the more empowered we become in advocating for ourselves.

I'll try to post more slides on my profile and wish that others would do the same. It would be great if this site had a link where we could easily find them.

Again, thanks.

Audrey

[mj111169]

I added a bunch of slides.  I'm not really sure what I see anymore, but feel free to look at them!