Just a quick background, have had back problems for years, a few tears and disc bulging on lower back. Went to a spine Dr for injections, ordered a new MRI of the mid back because when he went down my spine, I jumped with pain when he hit mid back.

Here is the MRI report:
mild desiccation thru out thoracic spine.
T10-T11 disc herniation left paramedian and migrated cephalad apporximately 7 mm with associated compression of the left hemicord and w/o associated cord signal abnormality.

What is worse inferior herniation? Or superior? Would this cause pain going down back and lower ab pain?
Is this bad?

Thank you SO much for any info. I have to wait til next week to find anything out!

Hey there. I had t6-7 fusion surgery (and all the injections and such that goes with it) in the last few months and I have no real idea what your MRI report means! It sounds like there's surely something going on. I wish you the best getting good info and even better care. Let us know how you're doing. I'm always happy to know another thoracic friend!

Sending you good wishes,
Margaret

Hey there. I had t6-7 fusion surgery (and all the injections and such that goes with it) in the last few months and I have no real idea what your MRI report means! It sounds like there's surely something going on. I wish you the best getting good info and even better care. Let us know how you're doing. I'm always happy to know another thoracic friend!

Sending you good wishes,
Margaret

Thank you so much. I know I was a bit lost too. The whole 7 MM and the migration part of it? I had another MRI done on my lower back. That was a bit easier to understand.

Where about is yours? How high up on your back? What symptoms do you have? I have read some scary things on the internet about this high up herniation. Thank you again

hey Louise,i think your biggest issue really is the result of the compression the herniation is creating for you.the 'associated compression of the left hemicord"is actual cord compression of some degree.this means your actual spinal cord is being compressed at this point in the T spine.i am just trying to figure out exactly what they mean by the "paramedian(means in the middle)and migrated(moved) cephalad(means superior)and what exactly IS that 7mms all about?i cannot fathom a herniated disc migrating up like 7mms,ya know?but i guess anything is possible.what does your doc say about this MRI?anytime the actual cord is being affected,depending on just what in it is being compressed,it can cause alot of different problems.it also has alot of 'percieved' type pain or sensation?this is when you feel kind of a pain or odd type of sensation that you just really cannot describe but it IS there type thing?i have lots of this type of crap from spinal cord injury.but i was getting this type of sensation and pain stuff before my surgery too.just didn;t have a clue where it was stemming from or what in the heck could be causing all of the real strange stuff i was feeling.you really do need to find out exactly what this means for you.if your cord is being compressed at any point,it just has to be relieved.the one good thing i see tho is there is no change in signal intensity which means the actual cord itself has not been damaged.but it will probably happen given time,so this does need attention soon.hopefully this can be relieved with no major problems.but you do need to see what your doc has to say.it is just a bit confusing in the way the report is written.please keep us posted on what you find out,K? good luck,Marcia

Thanks guys. I know, I should know since I just took Bio what 7 mm was. I asked my husband, he says it is about the size of your fingernail? I thought that was a lot. What is the inferior endplate? No cord signal abnormality. This is good right? What is the left hemicord then? Part of the spinal cord?
The pain I have is more of a pinching when I move a certain way, and just pain going down my back.
I was researching last night, and found out that Thoracic herniation is kinda rare? How would I have gotten this? Bad posture? And it is dangerous?

I have not seen my Dr yet. I saw him once (PM Dr) since I wanted to try the shots. I am not taking anything right now for pain, but was sick of downing 5 advil everyday. I am hoping he will suggest something I can do. I think he only does shots, and really does not do any meds at all. I was even wondering about the new antidepressants, but have heard some bad stories. Now I am nervous about the shots in the midspine area. What else can be done? So, I was just nervous since I have to wait a week to see the Dr.

Thank you everyone for the posts and ideas..

Hi, Louise. I had a right-lateral herniated disc at T6-7. That is about bra-line level. I had surgery last February after trying everything else. I'm not where I hoped I'd be, but the surgery had to happen as the disc was compressing my spinal cord and all the medications, PT, acupuncture, etc, couldn't fix that. I'm having radicular pain still on the right and horrible NEW pain on the left at the same level now. Having a steroid injection this Friday. There maybe something funky going on with my neck so I'm having an EMG in 2 weeks to see what's up with my nerves. It's been a long road and I'm not seeing the end. But... I'm learning the real meaning of day by day! :)

Thoracic disc problems are more unusual than lower back and neck. They're usually due to injury (car, sports, or some other blunt injury - mine was rugby!) or a congenital disease like Scheurmann's kyphosis (sp?). I don't know if you're leaping right into surgery, but there are lots of advances in surgical techniques now. They used to have to open you up completely. Now they often can to minimally invasive and video assisted. My incision is about 1.5 inches between my scapula and underarm with two 1/2 inch incisions nearby. I suspect you'll want to see someone in addition to a pain dr., like a spine specialist of some kind. Do stay in touch. It's hard to find thoracic people out there! I'll keep my eye out for you and there are a few others on this board and on the spinal cord board. This one is more dynamic though!

Best,
Margaret

Chatterbox,

What Dr did you use and how did you locate him?

Thanks!

I'm a t8-t9 guy. I suffered blunt trauma to my chest causing a herniation. Its been a year and my whole thoracic spine hurts when you touch it or when I move. Doctors who do not have experience in the thoracic spine are those you should steer far away from. I hear there are about 20 qualified thoracic surgeons in America. Choose wisely as I am ferreting out the good ones and making appointments. I have tried everything and nothing has worked. Doctors who are not experienced in this surgery will tell you to avoid it and that they do not know where the pain comes from.

I went to Dr. William Taylor, a neurosurgeon at UC San Diego. Dr. Taylor sees people from all over the country. I felt comfortable with his expertise and technique. He also recommended Pat... hm... it will come to me hopefully soon... at Cedars in LA. I didn't meet with him. Taylor is a leader in minimally invasive techniques. He does about 1 thoracic a month, which is much more than the average spine guy.

I recently moved to San Francisco and I'm working with Dr. Hannibal, who is also a "hot shot" in techniques. He looks like he's 24 years old and I really liked his demeanor. I'm meeting with him again later this month, so I can let you know how it goes, if you like.

Yes, it's really difficult to meet other thoracic folks and to find good information.

I'm having some real problems since my surgery (Feb. 2007) and I'm having to essentially diagnose myself. I think there's a major problem with the hardware. I'll need some good ***** on the 23rd when I meet with Dr. Hannibal to get some answers and hopefully solutions! OK - enough about me.

Let me know how your research goes, OK?
- Margaret

since you do have some level of actual cord contact,i would seek out a good neurosurgeon or even a well qualified ortho,one who has the level of knowledge and experience you need.it does not have to be an actual thorasic surgeon.those types of surgeons are generally more well versed in actual heart surgery than spinal.i would just get a couple of opinions from possible one neuro and one ortho?they both see things in a bit different way ya know?its just the nature of their specialties.your primary doc can do any referrals for you.but calling any doc that you are going to be seeing ahead of time and just asking them who they have in their practice who does the most thorasic type surgeries is a good idea.you just want overall knowledge and experience in any given area that you are going to be having surgery ya know?

just an FYI here but in reference to the endplates?when i have seen this in my MRIs,it is always in reference to either the top or bottom of the actual vertebrae itself.on top or on the bottom of.just so you know,this is about 7mms; l l .give or take a mm.its pretty small but within the spinal column, a pretty significant shift,if this is indeed what it actually means.hemicord is the cord itself,its just talking about one half or half of.not full cord contact,just one side affected?anytime you see the word 'hemi' before any word it just means "half".i hope this helps some.please keep us posted on things.Marcia