MRI terms

[agaony]

I just an MRI due to severe headaches.  Findings were there are a few scattered nonspecific tiny punctate hyperintense foci within the subcortical and periventricular 1 white matter measuring 3 mm.  Also there was a nonspecific finding and could represent microvasular ischemic changes, non acute white matter commonly seen in patients with hypertension or diabetes mellitus.  What does this mean if anything?  Thank you.

[agaony]

Thank you.

[Lulu54]

Hi agaony, welcome to our MS community.  I hope you will find some useful answers here.

Picking apart MRI report language the first few things  can be daunting.  It is fairly simple to read if you can speak the language- I wish they would just say it in English!  

taking a few of your terms, here's some loose meaning:

nonspecific= they don't fit any particular pattern
tiny punctate = think pinp rick size - really tiny dots
hyperintense = the spots show up different that other parts of your brain
subcortical and periventricular - locations  in the brain, and these can be hot spots for MS activity.
ischemic =  a decrease in blood flow

I hope some of this helps to take the mystery out of your report.  When do you see your doctor again to review these results?

Welcome again - we'll look for you around.

be well, Lulu

[jensequitur]

It means that there were a couple of white spots within the MRI.  It's possible that these are the result of migraines, which can cause microvascular ischemic changes.