I don't understand my MRI

[yabby02]

So a couple months ago I was sent in for an MRI to "rule out MS". They called and said my scan looked normal.

So fast forward to today, where I'm doing a lot of my own research and a friend suggested that I could look at the MRI myself. I didn't really have doubts of my doctor, but I thought hey ... sounds cool ... so I got the disc. I did notice 2 things, though.

1) Are there supposed to be tiny white spots on the scan? I thought that's what they were looking for, was white spots. Can some of them be normal? I wasn't told about any marks, I just saw them myself ... of course, I'm not trained in reading MRI's so maybe that's supposed to be there??

2) probably unrelated to MS, but has anyone heard of the "face of the giant panda"??? I can see it on mine, and I'm trying to learn more about it.

If I knew how to add a pic, I would

[yabby02]

[ElliotB]

When MS was suspected for me, I saw a Neurologist who, after carefully reading my MRI, assured me I did not have MS. I then took the disc to a Neurologist that specialized in MS and she made the correct diagnosis. Leave the reading of your MRI to an expert who is a specialist in MS. Who is "THEY" who originally evaluated your MRI? Did you also have your spine done? Did they do it with and without contrast?

[yabby02]

I'm really not sure who evaluated it ... I know a radiologist at the hospital did, and then made up a report. After that I'm not sure if my neurologist looked at the scans himself, or if he just read the report...no idea.

They only did the brain; when I asked about the spine I was told if the brain was negative, there's no need to do the spine. But yes, they did use contrast.

[Youarethecure]

That is completely false for them to say. I can't believe they could say that. Who said that?

One can have only lesions on the spine and not the brain, or the brain and not the spine.

Who sent you for the MRI? Why did they? Did that person read it? Nvm, I see you answered some of these questions already.

Did you read the report from the radiologist? Leave the reading of it to the doctors though.

Best wishes,

Chris

[yabby02]

I was told by my neurologist that the spinal mri wasn't necessary because the brain one was clear. It was kind of weird ... the worst of the tingling/numbness was in my left arm and another test showed pretty good carpal tunnel so it was kind of like "oh, you have carpal tunnel and your brain is clear so let's send you to the hand surgeon." Didn't really explain some of the other things going on, and when I asked "well what about the speech problems that happens sometimes?" I got a referral to a neurological psychologist.

I called last Thursday (regular neurologist's office) and left a message asking about the "face of the giant panda" which can sometimes be found on an MRI ... usually in patients with Wilson's Disease ... looking through my images, I can clearly see it so I was called to see what his opinion on it was. Never even got a call back. I did see my regular doctor since then, though, and I brought it up with her and she agreed with me ... you can see the panda on my MRI, so she's ordering some further tests.


I actually have no idea who read my MRI originally. I don't know if my neuro actually looked at the images, or if he was just going off the report. The exact report says:


MRI BRAIN W WO CONTRAST 1/14/2015 09:01:33

HISTORY: Disturbance of skin sensation, speech disturbance

COMPARISON: None.

TECHNIQUE: Routine multiplanar multisequence pre and post contrast MRI of the brain was performed. 19 ml Multihance given intravenously.

FINDINGS:

Brain parenchymal signal is normal. No mass, midline shift or extraaxial fluid collection. Ventricles have normal size and configuration. Corpus callosum, pituitary gland, tectum, and pineal region are within normal limits. No cerebellar tonsillar
ectopia. Globes and orbital contents appear normal. Normal intracranial flow voids are observed. No diffusion restriction.

Expected enhancement of the pituitary gland post contrast. No abnormal brain parenchymal or dural/leptomeningeal enhancement.

Impression


IMPRESSION:

Normal pre and post contrast MRI of the brain.


Component Results

There is no component information for this result.

[yabby02]

just for the fun of it, this is one of the ones with the "panda" ...

[Youarethecure]

If you really want to figure this out you should find a new neurologist. That is insane for that doctor to be under the impression if the brain is clear it means someones spine will also be clear. You should even tell him to speak with an MS specialist to see what they think about what he thinks.

[yabby02]

there aren't very many neurologists in my area...I have a friend who was diagnosed years ago with MS and she's seen several of them & said they're all the same. And then last month they changed their mind and told her maybe she doesn't have MS.

How would I go about finding an MS specialist?? I'm so all over the place with everything ... also looking into Wilson's Disease.

[NLGal]

If you can, get a second opinion. My CT scan was read by a radiologist who diagnosed a suspect neoplasm (cancerous brain tumour). Could not have been more wrong.