Degenerative Disc Disease
Posted on: Tue, 12/02/2008 - 17:23
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About to have surgery having severe pain, please help me understand MRI Report...Thanks!!!
Please help me understand this MRI Report, thanks.. BTW I am a 32 year old white female if that makes a difference.
*There is a small benign hemangioma (tumor) within T1 vertebral body
C7-T1= Disc height is normal,hydration, and morphology. No evidence of central canal or foraminal stenosis. No significant bony abonormality.
C6-7= Desiccation, disc osteophyte complex, bilateral facet and uncovertebral hypertrophy, moderate posterior disc bulge effacing the ventral CSF contacting and deforming both anterolateral aspects of the cord. Mild extension of the disc bulge into the formina.
C5-6= Desiccation,right uncovertebral and facet hypertrophy with right foraminal stenosis and possible right C5 impingement, Slight deformity of the right vental margin of the cord but no cord compression,mild advanced facet degenerative changes are present prodominatly on the right, ipining the exiting right C6 nerve root.
C4-5= Desiccation, facet changes, no impingment
C3-4= Desiccation, tiny right uncovertebral hypertrophic spur but no impingment. Facets are mildly hypertrophic.
C2-3= Mild desiccation w/o impingment
L5-S1= Mild facet osteoarthropathy, right greater than left, but no impingement. Disc is normal.
L4-5,L3-4, and L2-3= Disc is normal in height, hydration, and morphology. Noevidence of stenosis, No bony abnormality.
L1-2= Desiccation, mild disc osteophyte complex with slight effacement of the ventral CSF and the deformity of the ventral thecal sac w/o impingement.
Please help if you can...Thanks!!
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I am really sorry but none of here are doctors and can't really interpret MRI's so I'm afraid that no one would really be able to say for sure what this all means for you. However I think I can spot the one thing that should bring you some relief. Every time it says no impingement that's a good thing. When do you go back to see your Dr. to follow up on this MRI? Is is C6-C7 that you are having surgery on?
ACDF 5/6 Oct. 7th. .After a semi slammed me into a rock wall. I thank God for every day I am able to post here.
"But we have this faith- that a lifetime's bliss will appear any minute, with a smile upon its lips."
Thanks, just wondering if anyone out there has had similar diagnosis and what the outlook is like. I am having surgery on my C5-6 and C6-7.
Thank you for your apply
________________________________________________________
*There is a small benign hemangioma (tumor) within T1 vertebral body
C7-T1= Disc height is normal,hydration, and morphology. No evidence of central canal or foraminal stenosis. No significant bony abonormality.
C6-7= Desiccation, disc osteophyte complex, bilateral facet and uncovertebral hypertrophy, moderate posterior disc bulge effacing the ventral CSF contacting and deforming both anterolateral aspects of the cord. Mild extension of the disc bulge into the formina.
C5-6= Desiccation,right uncovertebral and facet hypertrophy with right foraminal stenosis and possible right C5 impingement, Slight deformity of the right vental margin of the cord but no cord compression,mild advanced facet degenerative changes are present prodominatly on the right, ipining the exiting right C6 nerve root.
C4-5= Desiccation, facet changes, no impingment
C3-4= Desiccation, tiny right uncovertebral hypertrophic spur but no impingment. Facets are mildly hypertrophic.
C2-3= Mild desiccation w/o impingment
L5-S1= Mild facet osteoarthropathy, right greater than left, but no impingement. Disc is normal.
L4-5,L3-4, and L2-3= Disc is normal in height, hydration, and morphology. Noevidence of stenosis, No bony abnormality.
L1-2= Desiccation, mild disc osteophyte complex with slight effacement of the ventral CSF and the deformity of the ventral thecal sac w/o impingement.
Hi, I just read your note. Sounds like your worst problem is the C6-7, where it says you have the disc bulge affecting both sides of the spinal cord. When do you have surgery?
I had a disc replacement surgery C5-C6 almost 2 years ago after an accident at work. I have a real good Ortho doctor who specializes in spine surgery. I was terrified of the surgery, and no doubt it was a slow recovery, but I am happy I had it done and I returned to work in 4 months post surgery. You hear so many people tallk about all the bad stuff that happens, but not so much the good ones.
I work in the medical field and was fortunate to be able to talk to people who worked with my surgeon in the OR. From those people I was able to feel confident my doctor was very capable and that helped a lot. I was still scared to death of the surgery itself (understandable), but am doing well.
I recently had MRI's done of my Thorasic and Lumbar spine because of another incident. I also have a hemangioma, though it isn't small. I read they are a collection of blood cells sometimes herditary, sometimems caused by trauma. They don't usually remove them unless they pose some harm in some way. They are usually found in the skin like a port wine stain, but thicker. I couldn't figure out the lingo in my MRI's either, but one of the pharmacists I work with was an MD in Vietnam, he explained mine to me in terms I could understand, but the words your MD is using is a little different than mine. I have been a Pharmacy Tech in hospitals for 30 years and still had trouble figuring it out, so I understand your frustration. The MD's seem to be so busy they don't want to spend enough time with you and it is scary. My friend said the hemangioma shouldn't be an issue. My main issue now is that the facet joints are degenerating and hitting each other L4-L5, causing my sciatic pain and numbness.
Also radiologists reading your MRI will use different terms than the surgeon. I am scheduled for a second round of 4 cortisone injections in my Lumbar spine this next Sunday, and I see my MD this Thursday so I am going to have him explain the MRI's too, to see how his explanation matches up with my RPh friend. If your MD is an Ortho doc you should look at this website: www.dukeorthopaedics.com Also I did searches on Google for sections of the terminologies used in the MRI's and put the sections in quotes to narrow the amount of information.
Let me know how your surgery goes. Some people put off the surgery so long their condition deteriorates to the point of being difficult to fix. I had one MD who wanted to do injections in my C5-6 spine, but I wanted a fix not a bandaid, so I went for the surgery. I am back to riding my horse even through the back pain, and plan to keep it up as long as possible. The first set of injections only lasted 3 weeks, so if this round doesn't get any better, I'll try another step, whatever that is.
Good Luck!
Neck Injury 12/7/06 Cervical Fusion with plate and screws C5-C6 4/07, Back Injury 8/7/08, Schmorl's Node Deformity at L1-2 L2-3, L3-4 mild posterior bulging with hypertropic facet degenerate changes, L3-4 diffuse posterior disc bulging with prompt component left posterior lateral and hypertropic degenerate change. Also flattening of the ventral aspect of the thecal sac. L4-5 shows diffuse posterior bulging flattening the ventral aspect thecal sac with prompt component centrally and left posterior lateral causing central canal stenosis and narrowing of the left lateral recess. Encroachment along the neural foramen bilaterally left worse than right. L5-S1 hypertropic degenerate changes, post disc bulge.
Posterior disc bulging at T-12-L1. Small Hemangioma at T12.
Severe Stenosis C4-5, C6-7
4 Bilateral Transforaminal Injections L 3-4 L 4-5 11/2/08, and scheduled for second set of injections 12/17/08. Had bad reactions to Codeine, Hydrocodone and Oxycodone so MD Started me on Lyrica 12/12/08 and finally getting some relief!
Second set of injections did not work so scheduled for a Microdissectomy some time in January, or when it is approved. Also having an MRI of brain and cervical spine to check for signs of MS.
I do have impingment to my C5 and my C6 nerve root...which sucks
lol...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is a small benign hemangioma (tumor) within T1 vertebral body
C7-T1= Disc height is normal,hydration, and morphology. No evidence of central canal or foraminal stenosis. No significant bony abonormality.
C6-7= Desiccation, disc osteophyte complex, bilateral facet and uncovertebral hypertrophy, moderate posterior disc bulge effacing the ventral CSF contacting and deforming both anterolateral aspects of the cord. Mild extension of the disc bulge into the formina.
C5-6= Desiccation,right uncovertebral and facet hypertrophy with right foraminal stenosis and possible right C5 impingement, Slight deformity of the right vental margin of the cord but no cord compression,mild advanced facet degenerative changes are present prodominatly on the right, impinging the exiting right C6 nerve root.
C4-5= Desiccation, facet changes, no impingment
C3-4= Desiccation, tiny right uncovertebral hypertrophic spur but no impingment. Facets are mildly hypertrophic.
C2-3= Mild desiccation w/o impingment
L5-S1= Mild facet osteoarthropathy, right greater than left, but no impingement. Disc is normal.
L4-5,L3-4, and L2-3= Disc is normal in height, hydration, and morphology. Noevidence of stenosis, No bony abnormality.
L1-2= Desiccation, mild disc osteophyte complex with slight effacement of the ventral CSF and the deformity of the ventral thecal sac w/o impingement.
I have had C5/C6 and C6/C7 ACDF surgeries. However, they were done 4 years apart.
Both surgeries were very successful, especially compared to the lumbar surgeries I have had.
The recovery period was relatively easy. Just followed all the rules and limitations laid out. The worst part was having to wear a hard collar 24x7 for about 7-8 weeks.
Now,the biggest complaint I have is in mobility. I can not really turn my head too much, so driving and changing lanes is always an experience. The only time I get some pain from my neck is when I over do something.
Good luck
Ron DiLauro
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Thank you for your comment I am hoping to return to work in 1 week. Do you think that it is possible?
Hi Rebecca, As far as going back to work in 1 week, that is highly unlikely. What type of surgery are you having? Fusion or Artificial Disc replacement? I had a single level ADR about 5 weeks ago and I went back to work in two weeks, which was very quick. Fusions take much longer to heal.
Mike