Aa
MRI Results
I'll say I'm sorry in advance for this long post. I'm going to type out the MRI results I've gotten todate. First is the MRI of brain on 1/24/08:
"No midline shift is noted. No extraxial fluid collections are noted. No signs of acute hemorrhage noted. No signs of acute infarction is noted. There are scattered abnormal areas of increased signal are noted on the T2 axial images and the coronal FLAIR images, which may be related to migraine headaches, ischemic changes, or possibly demyelinating disease. However, this is note specific."
Okay, so maybe MS. My Neuro doc ordered a complete spine MRI - I had MRI done on 1/31/08. I got a copy of the report (doc hasn't talked with me yet) on 2/1/08 and, in my lay person's opinion, it doesn't show MS, but shows that I have pretty bad back problems. A little history, I've been really off-balance, but my biggest problem has been going totally inconinent (urine) at the age of 41. All of my symptoms really did (and still do to an extent) to MS (please see my other post for additional symptoms):
Results of MRI - Back:
1. At the C5-6 level, mild diffuse non-compressive posterior disc bulge is demonstrated. No other levels of engenerative disc disease or osseous pathology of hte cervical spine is present. Cervical portion of the spinal cord is normal in signal intensity and appearance without evidence of pathology. No evidence of demyelinating white matter disease involving the cervical protion of the spinal cord is demonstrated.
2. At the T11-12 vertebral level, there is right paracentral broad based disc protrusion resulting in extrinsic mass effect of the right ventral surface of the conus medullaris which my account for thepatient's neurologic symptoms.
3. At the T12-L1 vertebral level, right paracentral broad based disc protrusion results in right sided foraminal stenosis.
4. At the L3-4 level, diffuse posterior disc bulge results in a moderate degree of central canal and bilateral foraminal stenosis.
5. At the L4-5 level, braod based central disc protrusion results in a moderate to severe degree of central canal and bilateral foraminal stenosis. At the L5-S1 level, mild diffuse non-compressive posterior disc bulge is demonstrated.
6. No pathologic focus of abnormal contrast enhancement on the post constrasted study. No evidence of osseous pathology involving the lumbar spine.
7. At the T11-12 level, moderate sized broad based right paracentral disc protrusion results in an extrinsic mass effect on the right ventral surface of the conus medullaris.
8. At the T12-L1 level, broad based right paracentral disc protrusion results in right sided foraminal stenosis.
9. at the T10-11, mild diffuse non-compressive posterior disc bulge is demonstrated.
10. No other levels of degenerative disc disease or osseous pathology are present. The thorasic portion of the spinal cord is normal in signal intensity and appearance without evidence of pathology. No evidence for demyelinating white matter disease is present.
Sorry for the long post. Any comments, suggestions and/or advise would be wonderful. Do you think that I have MS and the back problems are a separate issue or that the back problems are mimicing MS? Thanks so much and God bless everyone. ..... Becky
"No midline shift is noted. No extraxial fluid collections are noted. No signs of acute hemorrhage noted. No signs of acute infarction is noted. There are scattered abnormal areas of increased signal are noted on the T2 axial images and the coronal FLAIR images, which may be related to migraine headaches, ischemic changes, or possibly demyelinating disease. However, this is note specific."
Okay, so maybe MS. My Neuro doc ordered a complete spine MRI - I had MRI done on 1/31/08. I got a copy of the report (doc hasn't talked with me yet) on 2/1/08 and, in my lay person's opinion, it doesn't show MS, but shows that I have pretty bad back problems. A little history, I've been really off-balance, but my biggest problem has been going totally inconinent (urine) at the age of 41. All of my symptoms really did (and still do to an extent) to MS (please see my other post for additional symptoms):
Results of MRI - Back:
1. At the C5-6 level, mild diffuse non-compressive posterior disc bulge is demonstrated. No other levels of engenerative disc disease or osseous pathology of hte cervical spine is present. Cervical portion of the spinal cord is normal in signal intensity and appearance without evidence of pathology. No evidence of demyelinating white matter disease involving the cervical protion of the spinal cord is demonstrated.
2. At the T11-12 vertebral level, there is right paracentral broad based disc protrusion resulting in extrinsic mass effect of the right ventral surface of the conus medullaris which my account for thepatient's neurologic symptoms.
3. At the T12-L1 vertebral level, right paracentral broad based disc protrusion results in right sided foraminal stenosis.
4. At the L3-4 level, diffuse posterior disc bulge results in a moderate degree of central canal and bilateral foraminal stenosis.
5. At the L4-5 level, braod based central disc protrusion results in a moderate to severe degree of central canal and bilateral foraminal stenosis. At the L5-S1 level, mild diffuse non-compressive posterior disc bulge is demonstrated.
6. No pathologic focus of abnormal contrast enhancement on the post constrasted study. No evidence of osseous pathology involving the lumbar spine.
7. At the T11-12 level, moderate sized broad based right paracentral disc protrusion results in an extrinsic mass effect on the right ventral surface of the conus medullaris.
8. At the T12-L1 level, broad based right paracentral disc protrusion results in right sided foraminal stenosis.
9. at the T10-11, mild diffuse non-compressive posterior disc bulge is demonstrated.
10. No other levels of degenerative disc disease or osseous pathology are present. The thorasic portion of the spinal cord is normal in signal intensity and appearance without evidence of pathology. No evidence for demyelinating white matter disease is present.
Sorry for the long post. Any comments, suggestions and/or advise would be wonderful. Do you think that I have MS and the back problems are a separate issue or that the back problems are mimicing MS? Thanks so much and God bless everyone. ..... Becky
If I offended you I'm sorry. I did very much appreciate your input. I'm so inpatience (not to mention frustrated) while waiting for an answer/diagnosis. Thanks again.... Becky
There is very little I could possibly add to E's answer. Her assessment was right on, and I've always said that spinal (bony) MRIs are not my strong suite at all.
Q
Q
Quix has a good post on MRI results that you should look for. People bump it up pretty often for new people here.
Your spine looks clear in terms of MS-related lesions, at least with this strength of MRI machine.
Does your report mention where the "scattered" focal lesions are or their size, shape, or any other features? Otherwise, it's difficult to apply any interpretation. The reference to migraine makes me think "punctate," but do you have a history of migraine? You seem a bit young to be having a bunch of "ischemic" lesions, but you never know.
Invoking the saying that the simplest explanation is often also the most obvious, I'm guessing your doc will look at all that stenosis and attribute your problems to a lot of mechanical squishing along your spine. You can google phrases like "distribution c5" or "distribution L5" etc. to see for yourself where these nerves innervate and determine if it seems related to your symptoms. For example, L nerves signal to the lower body; entrapment of these could definitely get in the way of that.
As an example, here's an image showing T and L spine signal distributions: http://www.aafp.org/afp/990201ap/575_f4.jpg
This e-med article details the relationship between distribution and fxn:
http://www.emedicine.com/NEURO/topic657.htm
E
Your spine looks clear in terms of MS-related lesions, at least with this strength of MRI machine.
Does your report mention where the "scattered" focal lesions are or their size, shape, or any other features? Otherwise, it's difficult to apply any interpretation. The reference to migraine makes me think "punctate," but do you have a history of migraine? You seem a bit young to be having a bunch of "ischemic" lesions, but you never know.
Invoking the saying that the simplest explanation is often also the most obvious, I'm guessing your doc will look at all that stenosis and attribute your problems to a lot of mechanical squishing along your spine. You can google phrases like "distribution c5" or "distribution L5" etc. to see for yourself where these nerves innervate and determine if it seems related to your symptoms. For example, L nerves signal to the lower body; entrapment of these could definitely get in the way of that.
As an example, here's an image showing T and L spine signal distributions: http://www.aafp.org/afp/990201ap/575_f4.jpg
This e-med article details the relationship between distribution and fxn:
http://www.emedicine.com/NEURO/topic657.htm
E
Have an Answer?
You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community
Top Neurology Answerers
Australia
ON
Queensland, Australia
Queen Creek, AZ
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease
