MRI results

[mpatel81]

Hi

I saw my neuro this morning following my brain and c spine mri last week and it was all clear. the scan showed absolutely no abnormality and he is sure i do not have ms.

My symptoms are identical to the symptoms i had 5 years ago (i had two clear mri's 5 years ago) and he said the only think he can find is a slightly bulgng disc in my cervical spine which could have caused the paresthesia down my left side.

I feel relieved by his assertion but still a little concerned as i have read posts on here about people having clear mri scans and still having ms.

My neuro feels that as my symptoms are indicative of a brain or c spine problems that my scan would have shown abnormalities had i got ms. i do suffer with anxiety issues (and have done for a long time, i was told 6 years ago i had gad) he feels this could have made my symptoms worse.

Should i still be worried or do i trust the neuro?

Michelle

[Udkas]

Hi there,
If you have had repeat MRI over an extended period of time on a T3 machine using MS Protocol  and a lumbar puncture (MRI of your thoracic, cervical and brain the chances of it being MS would be diminished.

MRI is pretty good at imaging the brain, but not so good at imaging the spinal cord.  Usually a good neurologist can tell from examination and what symptoms you are having if your lesions are more likely to be spinal or brain.

Anxiety can cause tingling and twitching and mimic some symptoms but of cause many Doctors have put down some symptoms to anxiety later for patients to discover they are not.

I would get your anxiety seen too, rule out all causes, if you continue to have problems down the track or some progression go back and have another MRI at least your neurologist would have a baseline to go on to see if you are getting worse.

Sometimes we can have peripheral nerve problems too, not knowing your symptoms I can't comment but you could also have nerve conduction studies done too, this can rule out other causes of problems too.

Good luck with searching for answers, on the right hand side of this page there is an icon that takes you to the MS health pages there is quite a bit of info about MS and MRI on these pages.  If in doubt it never hurts to gain a second opinion.

Good luck,
Cheers,
Udkas.

[COBOB]

That would make more sense.  Since I was A Biomedical Engineering guy and not A Psych Tech, that is a "TLA" (three letter acronym) I would noy be familiar with.  Opps.

Bob

[supermum_ms]

Michelle, I think in 6 years and 3T MRI and no T2 lesions at all, the MS mimics will probably need to be investigated again. I would of thought a 'slight bulging disk' would of not generated any sx, though I dont really know much about it. I think if your satisfied that your anxiety is creating this problem, then following that avenue and getting constructive help dealing with your mental health should be a good thing to do.

Bob I think GAD in this situation is refering to General Axiety Disorder and not the contrast.

Cheers........JJ

[COBOB]

Contrast most likely would not make a difference if you have had symptoms for more than 40 days and there are no T2 lesions on a 3.0 Telsa MRI, I kind of doubt they would have seen any enhancing lesions on a post contrast T1 PD/PSE sequence.  

GAD should not make the symptoms worse.  GAD can be rough on the kidneys, but that is about it.

Bob  

[mpatel81]

I believe it was 1.5T on my first scan and 3T on my current scan with T2 weighted. Both done without contrast.

[jensequitur]

What was the strength of the MRIs?