HEMANGIOMA OF T-12

    
      Re: HEMANGIOMA OF T-12
    


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Posted by CCF Neuro MD on September 04, 1997 at 23:22:00:

In Reply to: HEMANGIOMA OF T-12 posted by JENNIFER SCHUELER on August 26, 1997 at 00:14:39:

:  SYMPTOMS:POINT TENDER@T-12, FEELS LIKE BONES GRATING ON BONES WHILE LYING ON EITHER  SIDE &ASSOCIATED WITH PAIN IN TOMOGRAM AREA OF T 12.  ON 5/2/97 MRI  SHOWED FOCAL AREA OF T2 HYPERINTENSITY WITHIN ANTEROINFERIOR CORNER OF T12 VERTEBRAL  SEGMENT MOST LIKELY REPRESENTING A SMALL NON FATTY HE MANGIOMA, OTHERWISE NORMAL MRI.   HAD 7 VISITS TO P.T..  ON 6/4/97  DID HAMSTRING STRETCH & 24 HRS LATER WAS UNABLE TO BEAR WT. ON LEGS DUE TO SEVERE SCIATICA & WEAKNESS.    HAD TO WAIT UNTIL 7/15 TO SEE NEUROSURG. DUE TO HMO REFERRAL SYSTEM!  7/15/97 HAD ANOTHER MRI WHICH WAS MISREAD BY RADIOLOGIST.  THE NEUROSURGEON READ MRI &  DX AS HNP L5, RADICULOPATHY& SUGGESTED CT MYELOGRAM & REF. ME TO PHY MED M.D.   PIRIFORMIS SYNDROME WAS R/O& BONE SCAN, MORE P.T, & TRICYCLICS WERE ORDERED. I REFUSED THE DRUGS AS I CAN'T GET MD'S TO GIVE ME A CONCRETE DX.   I HAVE A  PMH OF  HODGKINS, MEDIASTEINAL 15 YRS AGO WITH 8200 RADS TOTAL BODY RAD..  I AVOID RADIATION @ ALL COSTS & IS THE REASON I HAVEN'T HAD TO CT MYELO. DONE YET.   CURRENTLY THE PAIN IS  SEMI CONTROLLED WITH TENS UNIT & REST AS I DON'T LIKE NARCOTICS.   SWIMMING, BRISK WALKING, ETC INCREASES PAIN.  PRIOR TO INITITAL ONSET OF PAIN I WALKED 3 MILES A DAY AND BIKED 15 MILES 3 TIMES A WEEK.  MY JOB REQUIRES LIFTING 200 TO 400 LBS 10-12 TIMES A DAY AND RIDING IN A TRUCK FOR APPROXIMATELY 12 HOURS A DAY.   QUESTIONS: IS THIS HEMANGIOMA, IF IT IS JUST THAT,SOMETHING TO WORRY ABOUT& PERTINENT TO MY C/O & DX?  IS A  CT MYELOGRAM INDICATED AS IS A  BONE SCAN?  I WOULD APPRECIATE ANY DIRECTION YOU MIGHT POINT ME IN AS I KEEP GETTING THE RUN AROUND FROM MY M.D.'S AND HMO!  
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Dear Jennifer:
It looks like you are having a rough time. I can sympathise with your concerns. Reading your question, I understand that you have two problems in your back, namely 1) A small vertebral hemangioma at  T12 anteriorly, and 2) A herniated disc (?L5-S1) causing sciatica. You are probably more bothered by the latter at this time.
Herniated discs, as you know, can frequently compress or irritate nerve roots as the come out of the bony spinal canal. This results in shooting pain down one of the legs, areas of numbness, and at times even weakness of some of the leg muscles. Treatment options include surgery and conservative measures. Surgery is considered for discs causing gross weakness or other major deficit, or for intractible pain.