Size of Cord - Spinal Cord Disorders Message Board

Midge130 · 06-07-2003, 07:44 AM

Hey All!

I have read some people saying that their cord is compressed at 5mm or 7mm, but what is it suppose to be? On my next appt I'm gonna ask what my cord is compressed to! I know it may not be important, but I like to know the details.

Midge

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-Born a premie in 1964-8 wks early
-C-section 1990
-C-section 1992
-C-section 1995
-Shoulder pain since 2000
-C4-C5 bone spurs causing central canal stenosis. Annular tear.
-C5-C6 mild narrowing of canal.
-C6-C7 disc bone spur and annular tear.
-C7-T1 bone spur and annular tear.
-Myelogram 6-5-03
-Surgery-unknown yet, probably in 7-03

Memer · 06-07-2003, 08:47 AM

Hey Midge,

Me too, on wanting to know. NS never told me what the size of mine was. I guess he thought I wouldn't understand

. I did see the MRI films, and the largest herniation (C4-C5) looked to take up about 1/3 of the space in there. That's an estimate. I didn't measure or anything.

The one thing I do know is that the diameter of the canal is not the same throughout the C-spine. I think it's about 17 mm or something in the lower C-spine and more narrow at some point above.

[This message has been edited by Memer (edited 08-05-2003).]

DebbieMc · 06-07-2003, 10:54 AM

Hi Midge. I might be the one you're referring to with the 5mm & 7mm bulge in my spinal cord. Since this all new to me, I'm afraid I can't really tell you what it means but I can tell you they classified it as "large," and it is that fact that makes me a candidate for surgery today if I wanted it. I looked at it on a ruler and it didn't look too large to me (more than a quarter but less than half an inch if I read it correctly)but from what my doctor said, any compression or bulge is not a good thing. He showed it to me on the MRI and it looked a lot bigger there than it did on the rule. Have you ever seen a bike inner tube with a bulging weak spot? That's what it looked like. But the interesting thing was the birdseye view of the spinal cord. On an MRI, your spinal cord appears as a black cirle shape (not a perfect circle) with a white ring around it. The white ring is where the spinal fluid is. When you see the area where my cord is compressed from that view, there is no white which means the spinal fluid isn't surrounding it like it should. That can't be good.

When I go in for my second opinion, I'll definitely ask again and share the info with you. When I saw the NS who told me this, he was giving me so much info at once it was hard to retain even half of it. But, since I'll be in close contact with these doctors in the near future, I'd be happy to ask him anything you want to know. I'll make a list ;-) I expect to be carrying a notebook with me whenever I see my doctors now so I can gather info and do my homework. I'm taking a crash course on ACDF ;-)

DebbieMc

melanie dawn · 06-07-2003, 12:29 PM

Hi , okay this is the technical numbers and ratings:
The spinal canal is considered to be normal in the cervical area at 17mm. The rule of thumb is; a spinal diameter of 10-13 is considered relative stenosis and a pre- myelopathy( higher risk of injury and or compression) A spinal canal diameter of Less than 10mm is considered absolute stenosis and consistent with myelopathy.

Now the spinal cord itself in the neck varies between people ( of course) but tends to be 8-11mm.

So as for instance in my case I am down to 8mm with the herniations, no fluid around the cord and mild compression, because I have a cord on the smaller end of the scale, but if I had a large cord the compression would be much more severe.

There are no definates with stenosis, some people have only a brush up against the cord and narrowing, but are multi symptomed. Other people have up to 50% compression of the cord before they are symptomatic. We are all very individual in how we react , therefor the MRI's picture is only as relevant as it compares to physical symptoms. The physical exam is more difinative of compression and myelopathy.

I hope this helps, and i didn't just make things as clear as mud,

Mel

DebbieMc · 06-07-2003, 01:31 PM

So Mel, what does it mean if the spinal cord is protruding 7mm? My doctor never told me how big my cord was, just how big the swelling was. Thanks!