Open MRi - bad?

[mj111169]

Its me again, the one with all the questions.

I had an open MRI.  I read last night that the closed MRI is better for detecting lesions.  Is this true?  I am severely clausterphobic, which is why I chose the open.  

Just curious.  My MRI did find some white matter abnormalities on the open, though.

Thanks!

[anon07072023]

My neuro doens't accept any MRIs done on the open MRI. He says that you may as well throw those out...
For all the ones that he orders, they HAVE to be done on the closed MRI.

They just give me a valium type of pill about 1/2 hour before I go in to the closed MRI.

-Kelly

[RedFlame]

I would definately move heaven and earth for the highest T in the area.  I don't have claustrophobia and it's scary for me.  I do some relaxation techniques but still....it is unnerving.  I'm sure they will give you something though.  

let us know!

Red

[jensequitur]

That's what I would do.  The one MRI I had in an open-bore machine was useless, and I really regretted the time and money spent doing it.

[mj111169]

Thanks Bob.  I will see if the new neuro recommends another MRI, and if so, I will definitely request valium!

[COBOB]

The minimum recommended strength for an MS Protocol MRI is 1.0 Tesla.  Open magnets are about 0.45-0.8 Tesla in field strength.  I had an MRI Monday evening, and 10 mg of Valium took the edge off.  1.5 Tesla closed bore have a bit of room in them.  3.0 Telsa have a deeper bore and are a bit tighter.  

If you can tolerate it, a closed bore with Valium will provide much better image quality than any open bore MRI.

Bob