MRI interpretation?

[clledl3]

Hi all! I've posted here a couple of times and recently had my cervical spine imaged. I don't follow up with my neuro for some time so I was hoping someone/anyone had some input for me :) My most prominant symptoms are:  muscle spasms in and around rib cage, spasticity, hyper-reflexes in both legs, neuropathy in right leg and fatigue.

MRI of cervical spine without contrast

Findings: Spinal alignment is maintained without acute fracture or subluxation. There is mild straightening. The vertebral body heights are preserved with hyperintense T1 and T2 lesions withing the vertebral of T3 likely representing hemangiomas. The intervertebral disk space heights and signal intensity are preserved. The cervical medullary junction is intact. There is no abnormal cord signal identified.

Impression: No disk herniation, central canal, or neural foraminal stenosis at any level.

Thank you in advance!
-Kristin

[clledl3]

I was trying to wait until I had heard something from my neuro...numerous calls and no word as of yet. I don't want to be pushy, but I'm kind of getting annoyed at this point!  Anyway, I have a couple more appts. this week so I'll update soon. Thanks for all of the info and take care!

-Kristin

[sllowe]

Absolutely ask to speak to him! Honestly Kristin, he should be calling you. They definitely have the report already.

Now that you definitely know your thoracic was imaged, hd doc told you he was ordering the c-spine?

-shell

[clledl3]

Shell,

I was reviewing my disk (by no means am I medically trained!) and interestingly enough it IS in my thoracic area-T2 and it shows up as an oval-ish white thingy, very distinct, covers almost half of that vertebrae.

No word from the office. My neuro is not so awesome and it is pretty impossible to get ahold of him plus I have to drop $75 every time I see him :). Can I request to talk to him on the phone? It would be nice to know his thoughts without having to spend the money!

-Kristin

[sllowe]

clledl3,

No problem - anytime!
The should of made comment on each area imaged. Even if everything was normal in the C, (and that was the only area imaged) the report should have made comment.

It sounds like an error to me - that they could have possibly typed "T" in the report and it should say "c."  Has the Dr. called you ref. the report yet?  That's usually standard protocol for these docs. You by no means should have to wait for your next appointment to bring this up.....

If it were me, and I did not hear from the office, I'd call them.
-Shell

[clledl3]

Thanks for the info! I have a much better understanding now ;)
Take care,
-Kristin

[daisy.girl]

Hemangiomas are usually benign areas of vascular overgrowth. I have a T2 vetebral hemagioma too.
You know the red/purple strawberry birthmarks that some babies are born with? They are vascular overgrowths too, very similar.
They do not have anything to do with MS though....just an incidental finding on MRI.

[Audrey_M]

Kristin:

I have had several hemangiomas (pl?) show up on MRIs of my spine. By definition, they are cysts or tumors, most of which turn out to be benign.

Here's a link that explains spinal hemangiomas:

http://www.scoliosisassociates.com/subject.php?pn=spinal-tumors-012

The phrasing "likely presenting" appears to be fairly common terminology with these types of findings. I think it is a CYA, leaving it to the physician as to deciding whether or not to investigate further. With the location of one hemangioma, my then neuro ordered a bone scan to rule out any kind of cancer.

Depending on the size and location of the hemangioma, they can cause neurological symptoms. I have a medium sized Tarlov cyst in the lower lumbar region which does cause symptoms; these are fairly common and no further tests were ordered.

Audrey

[clledl3]

Thank you for the feedback, I appreciate you taking the time :)

About the findings, that's a very good question. I figured that the MRI overlaps some of the T-spine and they just reported what they saw. Is this normal? Does it not overlap and ONLY the c-spine is done?  

I felt that the report was sort of vague. If these findings are 'likely representing hemangiomas' couldn't they be representing something else?  Quite frankly, it's all Greek to me :)

I did see an opthalmologist and physically my eyes are perfect. On to the neuro-optho in March, hopefully I'll get an answer as to what's going on there. Anyway, thanks again for the time taken...it reassures me I'm not nuts! :) Take care

-Kristin

[sllowe]

Hi there,

Welcome to the forum because I think I missed your other posts. The hemangiomas are not something that would set off any red flags in the context of MS. It doesn't sound by way of what they put in the report that there is any incroachment on the spinal cord and I say that only because they used no language to indicate that.  

I'm not versed in hemangiomas, or their symptoms.  You mention you had your c-spine but this report made reference to level T3? Is this a type-o on their part? Are these actually in your c-spine?

Let us know......
-Shell