Hemangiomata within the sacrum? - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

Laenini · 12-15-2006, 04:06 AM

I had a lumbar MRI this week and in summary it showed typical degenerative changes in L4-5 and L5-S1 with mild lateral recess narrowing bilaterally at L4-5 which may be affecting the L5 nerve roots (I'd love to tell the doctor to replace that word "may" with "most certainly is" because I can sure as heck feel it!) Anyway, it also mentioned this Hemangiomata I apparently have within the sacrum. I can't find a whole lot of information about what that is other than its like a strawberry birth mark in my spine? But nothing that really tells me anything about any effect or consequences it may be having on my back pain issues. Do any of you know anything about this type of lesion?

Thanks!

feelbad · 12-15-2006, 09:27 AM

hi laenini.i think if you look up angioma,hemangioma or cavernous hemangioma,you may find better info.unfortunetly i am short on time here and just saw this post as i was going off line,but will be more than happy to give you more details hopefully tomorrow.i had/have one of these little SOBs inside of my spinal cord at the c 7 t 1 levels.you ARE right about it being a strawberry birthmark.that is actually the real color of these too.i read my pathology report.

Just exactly where is yours located?in or outside the cord,or on a bone area or what?they can cause alot of pain depending on just where they are.if you see any NS or other doc who says that they don't,move onto a much more informed type of specialist,the ones that DO know alot about these and the proper treatment,DO know that they are capable of causing some pretty awful pain in some patients.that no pain thing?well thats a huge *** myth,trust me.

sorry i don't have time to really chat.if you have any questions,feel free,K?Marcia

Laenini · 12-16-2006, 11:24 AM

All it says about the hemangiomata is this "Small hemangiomata within the sacrum" Here is the full report incase that helps....

FINDINGS: Lumbar vertebrae are in anatomic alignment. Vertebral body height is maintained, Mild desiccation of the L 4-5 and L5-S1 discs. Mild loss of disc height at L5-S1. Small hemangiomata withing the sacrum. Marrow signal and signal within the conus medullaris is otherwise normal. Conus Medullaris extends to the L1-2 level.

L5-S1: Focal central disc protrusion without significant spinal canal or neural foraminal narrowing. Mild facet arthropathy.

L4-5: Focal central disc protrusion, causing mild narrowing of the lateral recesses, left greater than right. No significant neural foraminal narowing. There are minor facet degenerative changes.

The remaining lumbar levels are within normal limits, without significant spinal canal or neural foraminal narrowing, and no significant facet disease.

Impression: Mild degenerative disc disease at L4-5 and L5-S1. Mild lateral recess narrowing bilaterally at L4-5 which may be affecting the L5 nerve roots, left greater than right. No significant spinal canal or neural foraminal narrowing.

All in all I think its not a report to be too alarmed about, and I think the nerve root involvment at L5 explains my pain. I'm just curious about the hemangiomata. I have lower back pain slightly left of center that extends down into my left buttock. I had a C4-5 ACDF 1 month ago, and the lower back pain right now is worse than anything I've got going on with my neck. In other words, it really hurts alot and that is on top of the 2 Vicodin every 6 hours I'm allowed for my neck. I assume this is something a steroid epidural might help? Does anyone know if I'm allowed one so soon after my neck surgery?
Thanks for any and all help!

feelbad · 12-17-2006, 05:38 AM

i agree,it doesn't sound too alraming with regards to the angioma.it appears from the way its stated that this may actually be within or on a bone area,so thats really really good.mine stated an intramedullary(within the cord).i think the only 'real' issue with yours would be,depending on just exactly where yours is locted,it may just cause a possible bit of weakening in that area of bone or something,if this is within it.i wouldn't worry overly much about that.how long ago was your neck surgery?the thing with the steriods is they DO inhibit bone fusion,but depending on how much time has passed and whether or not an ESI actually would send it into the blood stream or within the actual spinal fluid would detrmine the course as to whther or not you would be able to have one.personally,since this is at the opposite end of where your surgery was,i don't think it would present any major issues for you,but as you know,your doc would know best about that.it could possibly help your pain.i have had some success with ESIs in the c spine.some worked really well andothers just caused more pain.the results of any injection are kind of a crap shoot at best but always worth consideration.i will usually give just about anything a good try with my seperate pain areas.i have so many and they are all caused by different types of damage and disease processes.ther are always other types of injections to consider as well.

i am going in for my first facet blocks this following week up in my c 2-3.i just found out among other freaky c spine things i have,i now have synovitis in every single facet joint at every level in my c spine.things are not well up there right now.i am just sooo flippin sick of pain.i DID however just have my one year follow up on my aneurysm coiling with the old angiogram last week and at least THAT was good news.its kind of great getting some good news for once,lol.

Has anyone mentioned a possible surgery for your lumbar issues or are you not thinking of that after just going thru the c spine crap?eventually you will probably need to relieve that nerve root but for now,the ESI sounds like a good bet.it would be worth a try.are you seeing a pain management doc or just your family doc for your pain treatment?i didn't get any real relief til i started with my pain clinic.i use alot of different injections and since my PM is an anesthesiologist,this works out really well for me.but they can also Rx the most appropriate types of meds for your particular type pf pain and that is really the key inorder to find the right type of med for the job.have you tried any of the anti siezure type meds such as neurontin or even lyrica at all?lyrica has been the only anti S med that really made any indent in my central pain syndrome and my RSD i have inside my knee thru my foot,but unfortunetly,because of severe side effects(mostly with my eyes),i had to stop it.but it DID help alot.i do think that possibly adding one of the anti S meds along with your hydro would possibly help alot since some of your pain is most likely neuro in nature.even adding aleeve twice a day may help with the inflammation.i lived on this stuff before my herniated disc surgery was performed in my c spine.it helped even better than any of the narcotics i had been taking off and on,so i just used the narcotics at night for sleep.

just some suggestions for you if you haven't tried these already.every little bit helps.hope all goes well with you being able to obtain that ESI.please let me know how things are going Laenini.Marcia

Laenini · 12-17-2006, 10:57 AM

For now I want to treat the lumbar problem conservatively rather than surgically. I just started PT for my ACDF, and the neurosurgeon is going to add on my lumbar issue to the PT orders. I was on Neurontin before the ACDF but they took me off it after the surgery. Sounds like it might be a good idea to go back on it. Thanks for the advice Marcia!