Grrr.... reat! .7 Tesla MRIs...

[jensequitur]

Well, I was scheduled for an MRI of the cervical and thoracic today and tomorrow.  At the last minute (yesterday) I wondered what strength we were talking about, so I called up the place.  Turns out it's a .7 Tesla open-bore machine.  Hmm.  I panicked, of course, and tried to call the neuro to have it changed, but no go.  He said it would be "just fine" and to go ahead and have them done.

The technician assures me that the radiologist is really good at reading the results, but it's still only .7 Tesla!  How much data are we talking about here?  Does anybody know?  Is this going to be a waste of my time?

[jensequitur]

Heck, Shell, I dunno.  I think I'm going to have to find a new neuro!  I'm already diagnosed, so it's not like we're on a lesion hunt.  We're just trying to find out why I'm having these weird spasms.  Now I'll probably have to wait until next year before I get any MRIs done.  I've got a disc with some .dll files on it - probably PC - I'll have to wait until I get home before I can look at these.

Slightlybroken, it does make me feel a *little* better.  I figured if it was really bad, it would show up.  H e l l of a thing to hope for though.

This particular open-bore machine had magnetic coils that went across my torso and neck.  I've never seen those before.  The tech guy says that they'll produce a better image than the usual machine - I hope he's right!  He says the radiologist usually doesn't volunteer opinions on the strength of the MRI, so I probably won't be able to get any input from him on whether these should be redone.

I keep coming back to needing a new neuro!  So I'm going to look around here in Ft. Worth and see what I can find.  I think I'll ask my PCP if she has any recommendations.

[slightlybroken]

I don't know if this will make you feel better or not...but they did see catch something on my c-spine .7 strength open MRIs.

The bad part was that the quality was so c rappy they didn't know what it was. To me that just translates into...your lesions have to be pretty prominent to be caught on that type of machine.

[sllowe]

Jens -

I'd back out of the imaging for sure!

The chance of getting the MRIs approved again in the near future could be a nightmare.  My open bore pics were not near as good as the closed and they were both on 1.5

LoriB47 - Welcome! I'm so glad you are here with us.  HOw are you doing with your MS? Boy oh boy are we going to give you some techy questions!  HOpe you don't mind!

Again, welcome! And, Jens, what are you going to do about this?
-Shell

[LoriB47]

I am a MRI tech and a patient with MS.  I have access to both a .7 open magnet and the one I work on which is a 1.5T closed short bore magnet.  The biggest difference in the machines is that the open one has no sides.   So if claustrophobia is a problem the machine will still be right on your face.  The short bore is shaped like a tube but open in the front and back and really not that enclosed unless the patient very large and even then is quite tolerable in my opinion (and I an slightly claustrophobic). I think the images on the 1.5 are much better as do the radiologists that I work with who read from both machines.  The 1.5 also takes less time and considering having 2 MRI's can take 45min to 1hr in the .7 and laying completely still is a must My money is on the 1.5.  I will never have mine any where else!

[jensequitur]

That's not a bad idea - talking to the insurance guys about the charges for this sub-par MRI scan.  They won't want to pay for something that was a slipup by the neuro, either.  It should really come out of the neurologist's pocket!

I think he's just an ignorant nincompoop.  He's the one that diagnosed me with MS back in 2007.  But ever since, he's come off as being the most bass-ackward neurologist I could find.  Anybody with any sense can google up MS protocol for MRI and find out the information I did.  I'll definitely speak with the technician tomorrow, and ask that the radiologist recommend a higher-tesla MRI if the scans don't show anything, or anything conclusive.

[Fluffysmom]

I'm thinking that you pay for your insurance; this is your health the dodo is messing with, and you should be able to have at least the minimum recommened to view possible spinal lesions.

I don't suppose he would respond if you faxed him an article proving how much more can be seen on a higher powered machine, and insist that your insurance company (and yourself) not be charged for a suboptimal scan ?  

This just frosts my cookies!  If he does know anything about MS, then he's just about saying he thinks you don't have any lesions and that it doesn't matter if the lesser machine is used.  If he doesn't, then he's wasting a lot of time and money.

I like the idea of speaking with the radiologist.  I printed out the MRI Protocol, and it does say that a 1T or higher is recommended for brain and spine, and the open (.7) is only to be used when a patient can't tolerate the closed magnet.  This was written in 2003, so it's possibly been updated since then.

Wouldn't it be fun to have Quix talk to your neurologist, and explain the facts of MS and MRIs to him?  :o)

I think we all need to be proactive about our health care now.  What if your insurance doesn't want to pay for a stronger MRI when you move on to a better neuro?  You could call your insurance company.  I'm just brainstorming here.  If necessary, you can reschedule your MRI with the support of the radiologist and insurance company and the MS Protocal and any recent articles you can find.

I'm wishing you the best.

Kathy

[jensequitur]

What's so frustrating about this is that I tried to change machines, but the neuro wouldn't let me!  What is he thinking?  I guess he isn't.  

Not only is this doctor wasting my time, he's wasting my money!  I wonder if I can contest the charge for the MRIs?  I'll worry about it if they come back negative.

[slightlybroken]

Sorry about your MRIs...I can relate..believe me. My very first MRIs were done on a .7T open MRI. I still have the disk. They make lovely cup coasters because that's about all they are good for.

Throw that doc to the curb before he waste anymore of your time.

[Udkas]

Hi Jen,
How frustrating for you.  Can't you change machines?  It sounds so difficult to choose both doctors and machines in the USA?  

I can choose my machine, my Dr and my hospital and it's all FREE!  I think if I went private hospital it would cost me $100 but if the machine was better I was going that way but they are all the same.

I got to discuss which machine I wanted and if one lot of techs were better at reading results than another etc..

Good luck with it all, I will be thinking of you.

[jensequitur]

I think I'll ask the technician tomorrow about the strength of the MRI, and have the radiologist weigh in on it as well.  If the radiologist says in his report that the strength of the MRI isn't sufficient for MS protocol, maybe it will help when I have to deal with the neuro later.

[Wobbly]

yes, this must be frustrating... I hope since it's the one your booked to take and can't get different... I hope it helps and shows some answers for you... let us know when you get the results and we will cross our fingers..

good luck
wobbly
undx

[jensequitur]

I have to wonder about this neuro.  Sometimes I think I know more about MS than he does!  Which is ridiculous... what am I paying him for?

[jensequitur]

Fortunately I have insurance, but I don't know how much I'm going to have to pay over the top of what they're covering.  I'm sure they'll bill me!

I think the same thing - if I have a huge lesion, they'll see it, but if I have small stuff, it's going to be invisible on the low-Tesla machine.

The way things are going, I know something's up with my back - it's just a matter of them finding it!

[Quixotic1]

Oh, my.  The radiologist can't glean lesions that are not visible.

Yes, you have a dododoc.  One who is either completely uneducated on the disease he thinks he is treating/diagnosing or who doesn't care.

Q

[Lulu54]

I sure hope you didn't have to pay out of pocket for this.  I imagine if you have lesions that scream MS they would show up, but the subtle ones that have to be searched for probably are going to go unnoticed.  I am sorry you've gone through this frustration. - Lulu

[jensequitur]

Now I'm even more irritated - recommended Tesla for brain and spinal cord for MS is 1.0 Tesla.  Open bore machines (which is what I was in) is only .7, which is probably what the technician meant.

http://www.mscare.org/cmsc/images/pdf/MRIprotocol2003.pdf

Gotta dump this neuro quick.  He obviously isn't up to date on the MS research.  And this MRI protocol is from 2003!  WTF?