Peculiar C4 vertebra of hemangioma?

[Fluffysmom]

I am suffering from headaches and tremors.  I have had many tests, as I also have a herniated lumbar disc, facet joint arthropathy, old compression fracture of T-7, etc.  I had a brain MRI that showed a lot of lesions that may be MS, and will be seeing a neurologist in April.

My question is regarding a cervical MRI I had that showed "diffusely increased signal intensity of the C4 vertabra centrally.  This has a most unusual appearance with near complete replacement of the central bone marrow.  It is intensely dark on T1, suggesting almost complete calcific replacement, though that would contradict the T2 porlongation on the T2 sequence. Comparison with plan films is recommended".
"Impression:
Focal signal abnormality involving most of the central vertebra of C4.  The signal pattern and appearance are very peculiar and do not follow any particular disease type.  Depending on the appearance  of the plain films, further evaluation, possibly with bone scanning to see if there are any other lesions may be helpful."

The plain films came back very normal, Impression: No fracture.

I remembered a cervical MRI from years ago for neck and head pain, and had the films and report pulled.  It showed pretty much the same on films, but the radiologist just noted:  "Incidental note is made of an alteration of signal intensity from within the C4 body.  This is consistent with an incidentally observed hemangioma".

I was seeing a neurosurgeon about a minimally invasive procedure for my lumbar disc herniation, and he ordered all new MRIs of my spine, and was very concerned about the C4 vertebra, and wanted to send my films to another doctor for his opinion.  That doctor was out of my insurance network, and I was more concerned about the brain MRI that my primary care doctor had ordered in the meantime.

My question is, has anyone had experience with hemangiomas in vertabra?  Or, has anyone had similar findings that turned out to be something else?  Should I request a bone scan?  I've read that vertebral hemangiomas can become symptomatic if the protrude out and push on  the spinal cord, but wouldn't that have shown up on the MRI?  Should I just take a few deep breaths and wait and see what the neurologist says?  Hopefully, she won't be focused on the MS issue and not want to look at the cervical issue (like the neuro I saw last week, but that's another story).

Sigh.  Thanks for letting me sound off.  I hope someone has heard of such a thing and can point me  in the right direction if more needs to be done.

Kathy

[Sheilaleah]

I too have a c4 vertabra lesion(hemangioma) I was in a auto accident in September of 2010 and it was found on an MRI, I also had a previous mri done in 2006, and had those records pulled and there was no mention of the hemangioma on that mri, So I believe mine was caused from an accident where a drunk driver hit me from the side and stayed pushing me for over a 1/10 of a mile. I on the other hand had a CT done of the lesion and it was thought to be vascular or spinal fluid, I was to go back and have another mri done, but that hasn't been ordered yet, so I'm sorry I can't help much, but I can tell you since the wreck, I have experienced stinging and burning sensations all over my head, arms, and collarbone area, So I am still looking for answers too, I will check back to see if someone answers your questions, I'm very interested to know. Thanks for posting.
Sheila

[Fluffysmom]

Hi, I was looking through my history of posting since I joined MedHelp, and found this post that no one answered.

Just thought I'd give it one more chance, to see if anyone has any ideas or comments.

Kathy