[river3221]

If anyone can help me understand this report I would be eternally grateful I'm new to this board and welcome any help I cn get.

Findings: Vertbral body types are essentially maintained. There is 4 mm of anterolisthesis of L4 relative to L5. L4 pars appear to be intact. Anterior disc osteophyte complexes are most apparent at T11-T12, L1-L2 and L2-L3.

Artifact partially obscures the dorsal elements and spinal canal at T-10 and T-11. There is mild disc bulging versus protrusion at T10-T11 and T11-T12 which exhibits mild mass effect upon the thecal sac. If clinically indicated, dedicated imaging of the thoracic spine may be performed.

L1/2: No axial images are available. There is mild disc bulging with a mass effect upon the thecal sac. No significant subarticular/foraminal stenosis is present.

L2/3: No disc herniation, spinal canal stenosis or significant subarticular/foraminal stenosis is present.

L3/4: There is facet arthopathy and disc bulging contributing to mild central canal stenosis. No significant subarticular/ foraminal stenosis is present.

L4/5 There is uncovering of disc material and bilateral facet arthopathy. Mild central stenosis is present. There is minimal subarticular/foraminal stenosis.

L5/S1: There is a broad-based somewhat bilobed disc extrusion extending from the central zone through the left subarticular/foraminal zone. In the central zone, the disc extrusion extends posteriorly 6 mm and exhibits mild mass effect on the thecal sac. It contributes to moderate left-sided subarticular/foraminal stenosis. No significant right-sided subarticular/ foraminal stenosis is present. There is mild facet arthropathy. The is a mild degree of degenerative type subendplate bone marrow edema at this level.

Visualized portions of the spinal cord are normal in signal intensity. The conus medullaris terminates at L1.

Impession:

Multilevel disc and facet pathology as described above.

I would like to better understand what this information means before I see the Neurologist. Can anyone please help me to understand this report? I would really appreciate any one's help. Will an injection help with the pain? Thank you!

river

[ginnie]

Glad you found us. Welcome to Neuro Talk. I found the site the same way you did, wanting to find out about my MRI. I was scared too. Leesa is the best that I know of for giving a laymans way of explaining your MRI. One thing you can do as I did, is start googling up all the words one at a time. Long and prolonged, but you get a good idea of the language that way. Once you understand the words, it fits together. I do believe leesa will be here soon and help you out. She was one of the ones who helped me when I first joined the site. Kind and very helpful. I wish you all the best. Only consider surgery as a last resort, and get those second and third opinions. ginnie

[Leesa]

I'll try and help here:

To be honest, I am not sure what Anterolisthesis is. I think it means the discs slip backward over the other one but I'm not sure. You have bone spurs at T-11, T-12, L1-2, L2-3.

A bone spur obscures the rear elements and spinal canal at T10 & T11. There is a disc bulge (no herniation) at T10-11 and T11-12 which exhibits mild effect on the thecal sac. The thecal sac is a membrane of dura matter that surrounds the spinal canal and the cauda equiina. The thecal sac is filled with cerebral spinal fluid.

L1-2 There is a mild disc bulge which presses on the thecal sac

L2-3 No problem

L3-4 There is facet arthropathy (joint disease, probably osteoarthritis??) and a bulging disc contributing to mild central canal stenosis (narrowing of the spinal canal)

L4-5 There is Uncovering of disc material (?) and bilateral facet arthropathy. There is mild central canal stenosis. There is minimal foraminal stenosis (the foramen is the hole that the nerves pass thru to get to the spinal canal)

L5-S1 There is a broad based Bilobed disc extrusiion extending from the central zone to the foraminal zone. It has effect on the thecal sac and contributes to moderate left sided foraminal stenosis. There is mild facet arthropathy. There is mild degree of degenerative type bone marrow edema (swelling).

I AM NO DOCTOR, but from what I see of this MRI, I seriously doubt that you would be a surgical candidate. A neurosurgeon would probably suggest you go to pain management ---- at least I HOPE he would.

If any surgeon suggests surgery, get 2 MORE OPINIONS.

First,, surgery will NOT ease your pain. Surgery is NOT FOR PAIN. iT IS ONLY for mechanical problems. You will still have pain after surgery, and it might even be worse than before. Also, most doctors won't tell you this, but when you have surgery, the levels above and below the surgery sites will fail because they've had to take on more of the load. This is called the "Domino Effect." Then you will end up in the operating room again and again. So you MUST avoid surgery at all costs if you can. Try every single CONSERVATIVE METHODS you can try, including the spinal cord stimulator implant, which usually is the last resort before surgery. I've tried everything and now pain management doctors won't take me anymore, as I've been deemed inoperable.

Best of luck. If you have any further questions, or if I've totally confused you, please let me know, okay? God bless and take care. Hugs, Lee