do not understand mri report - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

captnanny · 06-12-2007, 08:14 AM

If someone could help me understand part of this report I might feel a little better.
I had an two level acdf at c4-5, c5-6 on April 13th.
It does say that no spinal stenosis, and no spondyloistesis. that was resolved. It does say that at c-5 c-6 interval resolution of broad based disc protrusion. CSF signal is present anteriorly and the thecal sac measures 11mm.
c-6 c-7 small central disc bulging resulting in mild flattening of the thecal sac. otherwise post infusion images are compromised due to motion. many of the sequences remain compromised due to patient motion.
I WAS NOT MOVING NOT MOVING AT ALL. I do know that I was experiencing a great deal of pain and numbness but i did not move.
Is this report good or bad. I don't understand why I am still in so much pain.

feelbad · 06-12-2007, 08:52 AM

was the numbness there pre op or did it pop in post op?the area actually correlates to the c 8 nerve level.or your ulnar nerve?i really do think that obtaining a brand new MRI with contrast meat really be needed in order to see some of the things they are mentioning had problems because of movement.you honestly do not always realize when you are moving during these things,even a deep breath at the wrong time can cause the "motion' problems,believe me.out of the 16 MRIs i have had done over the past few years,probably about three of them mention me actually moving when i know i didn't actually move.it just doesn't take much thats why.

just exactly where are you now having pain and what does it feel like?is this new or old pain?just from what your report states,despite the fact that you just had some things fixed,you are still dealing with some other issues that can also cause their own pain too.i really do think considering the fact that the other pics are compromised you should probably have a repeat done just to get a better look at the obscured areas.also getting another read this time around from a possibly different rad may pick up on things the other didn;t pick up on.but it really does need to be done for the best possible Dx of what may be going on.but like i said too,you still have some pretty significant issues that have not been fixed,that could explain at least some of your ongoing pain.i know you have been thru hell and back with this and am really sorryyou are not obtaining better relief at this point.i know how much that sucks too.one big thing that really helps me whenever i have to get yet another MRI is valium.it just helps me relax and my spasticity isn't quite as bad either.you could ask for some level of sedation.i also have to kind of wrap a blanket around my upper body so it like "traps' my arms in place only becasue i do have intermittant jerks now that i did not have before.this just helps keep you still.just a suggestion for you.you just have less tendancy to do a little movement when you are wrapped up a bit tighter.it works for me.i wish you luck,please keep me posted.Marcia

captnanny · 06-13-2007, 01:29 AM

thanks for the input. I hope they do let me get the repeat done. my pain is really on my left side, burning in my neck and shoulder. Numbness in my upper arm, sometimes going to my hand with tingling. It also feels like i have a lot of weight on top on my head that's' crushing my neck down. something like that. What else does this report mean? Can you or anyone explain what it is saying?

Dutchgirl · 06-14-2007, 12:12 AM

I would definitely see if you can redo the MRI, because you do not want an unclear/imcomplete report/films. My last MRI that was taken about a month ago was actually taken from the wrong side. Apparently they are supposed to do the MRI from the left to the right (I'm pretty sure that's right..), but they did it incorrectly and my Neurologist was really upset about it, because it showed that the right side was having most of the problems when infact it was the left side the was the worst.

Backinthesaddle · 06-14-2007, 07:19 AM

I agree bad MRI reading. Some readers do a poor job I have found over the years of MRI's. Like they didn't mention my spinal cord being compressed to less then 1/2..How did they miss that??????? But they did. Doctor had to ask for a ct scayn/mylegram based on my NS findings and notes. When the films were quit obvious. Looking at them any idiot can see the spinal cord looking like a flattend heart. Rant done, now the symptoms you have are like feel bad said consistant with C/6/7(which is really c8). Look it up....I have same exact feelings minus the head weight. I have moderate to severe flattening of the nerve root C6/7. I even had a emg that was normal and how can that be when they say that the nerve has been pinched since 11/05 and has not changed. My faith is poor after all this.