Help me understand my MRI
Posted: Sun May 01, 2016 1:32 pm
Hi-
I am a 27 year old female and below are my symptoms and questions I have. I have been extremely healthy my whole life with almost no health issues or head injuries.
Symptoms
-bad low back pain (with muscle spasms)
-some joint pain (ankles, wrists, hands) - it's not too bad but I just feel somewhat light throbbing
-quick pin prick pain (lasting 1 second at the most) that feels like someone is taking a needle and quickly poking me - or like a quick jab. It's not that painful but quite bothersome.
-slight dizzyness after laying down/not eating for a long period of time (i think this probably normal but figured I'd mention it)
My PCP ordered complete blood work and everything has come back very normal and healthy. I've had a back/neck/brain MRI and below are the radiologist findings from the brain (back/neck came back normal). The neurologist says he can't quite say it's MS yet but he didn't do a great job of explaining it's findings. He ordered another MRI for a months time to see if anything has changed. We have also done a spinal tap (neurologist said not necessary but if we wanted to do it, fine) and below are the findings as well.
Any thoughts or things I can be doing? I don't quite understand the radiologist explanation and would love the forums explanation. I'm seeing the neurologist again in 2 weeks to compare the two MRIs.
BRAIN MRI REPORT
FINDINGS: The ventricles and sulci are within normal limits. There is no midline shift or mass effect. There are no areas of restricted diffusion.
There are several, at least 20, small foci of T2/FLAIR hyperintensity within the primarily the subcortical white matter bilaterally. No lesions are identified within the corpus callosum or in the temporal lobes. There is a T2/FLAIR hyperintense lesion within the left ventral medulla. No other definite posterior fossa lesions are identified. No enhancing lesions are identified.
There are no extra‐axial fluid collections. The expected flow voids major intracranial vascular structures are present.
IMPRESSION: There are several foci of abnormal T2/FLAIR hyperintensity within the supratentorial white matter which alone are nonspecific. However, there is also a lesion within the left ventral medulla. These findings would be compatible with a demyelinating process among other etilogies in the differential.
From the spinal tap everything has come back normal and healthy so far. But we are still waiting to see if there are ogliclonal bands -apparently these take a few more days.
Thank you for your thoughts and help!!
I am a 27 year old female and below are my symptoms and questions I have. I have been extremely healthy my whole life with almost no health issues or head injuries.
Symptoms
-bad low back pain (with muscle spasms)
-some joint pain (ankles, wrists, hands) - it's not too bad but I just feel somewhat light throbbing
-quick pin prick pain (lasting 1 second at the most) that feels like someone is taking a needle and quickly poking me - or like a quick jab. It's not that painful but quite bothersome.
-slight dizzyness after laying down/not eating for a long period of time (i think this probably normal but figured I'd mention it)
My PCP ordered complete blood work and everything has come back very normal and healthy. I've had a back/neck/brain MRI and below are the radiologist findings from the brain (back/neck came back normal). The neurologist says he can't quite say it's MS yet but he didn't do a great job of explaining it's findings. He ordered another MRI for a months time to see if anything has changed. We have also done a spinal tap (neurologist said not necessary but if we wanted to do it, fine) and below are the findings as well.
Any thoughts or things I can be doing? I don't quite understand the radiologist explanation and would love the forums explanation. I'm seeing the neurologist again in 2 weeks to compare the two MRIs.
BRAIN MRI REPORT
FINDINGS: The ventricles and sulci are within normal limits. There is no midline shift or mass effect. There are no areas of restricted diffusion.
There are several, at least 20, small foci of T2/FLAIR hyperintensity within the primarily the subcortical white matter bilaterally. No lesions are identified within the corpus callosum or in the temporal lobes. There is a T2/FLAIR hyperintense lesion within the left ventral medulla. No other definite posterior fossa lesions are identified. No enhancing lesions are identified.
There are no extra‐axial fluid collections. The expected flow voids major intracranial vascular structures are present.
IMPRESSION: There are several foci of abnormal T2/FLAIR hyperintensity within the supratentorial white matter which alone are nonspecific. However, there is also a lesion within the left ventral medulla. These findings would be compatible with a demyelinating process among other etilogies in the differential.
From the spinal tap everything has come back normal and healthy so far. But we are still waiting to see if there are ogliclonal bands -apparently these take a few more days.
Thank you for your thoughts and help!!