[spanky]

I have neevr had surgery on my spine just epidurals and caudal injections

coupe days ago get a new mri and it says there are plates and screws on my mri..at the l4-5 area how is this possible?

[(Broken Wings)]

If you've never had back surgery, that sounds like someone else's MRI films or a mix up of names on reports. it can happen.

"plates and screws" - surgically implanted hardware.

Our MRI facilities sends us out with films, more recent on DVD. if you have films, take them out and see if you see screws. easy to see.

call the referring doctor and/or the MRI facility if you've not had surgery.

[spanky]

Originally Posted by (Broken Wings)

If you've never had back surgery, that sounds like someone else's MRI films or a mix up of names on reports. it can happen.

"plates and screws" - surgically implanted hardware.

Our MRI facilities sends us out with films, more recent on DVD. if you have films, take them out and see if you see screws. easy to see.

call the referring doctor and/or the MRI facility if you've not had surgery.

there is some shiny thing showing up on mri..also when i had regular x ray done a couple days before mri in ER thye said they saw soemthing on there too and asked if i ever had surgery..i have only had spinal injections down there epidurla and such

[(Broken Wings)]

You can distinctively tell a screw on x-ray or MRI films. If you can't tell it's a screw, it's not a screw. Every screw I've seen clearly has threads in them. although they could use tinier ones than I've seen on lots and lots of MRI films, you can distinguish it's a screw.

I have seen an x-ray where a woman had been shot in the abdomen with a shotgun and we could see the bee-bees in her belly, all over her belly. Metal shows up clear/void space outlining metal things/light blue area.

Shiny would be a little different. not seen "shiny." not heard anything described as "shiny" on x-rays or MRIs. It could something either from the epidurals - long shot... they may have left some hardware in there - or it's congenital or a disease process not identified for you yet. it's something even if it turns out to be not harmful or threatening, maybe some kind of deposit your body can't get rid of. If the radiologist read the MRI as "plates and screws," he's the expert, the one that's supposed to know. They're not wrong too often. and if the ER doctor came back and asked - probably because you didn't declare back surgery in a history - they're puzzled too.

how about when you were born or too young to remember? can you find out from parents or family if they did do any procedures or if you were just hospitalized for something.

Have you ever been in accidents of any kind and went for treatment, unconscious maybe.

Proceed with caution.

Originally Posted by spanky

there is some shiny thing showing up on mri..also when i had regular x ray done a couple days before mri in ER thye said they saw soemthing on there too and asked if i ever had surgery..i have only had spinal injections down there epidurla and such

[spanky]

well my last mri was done in 2007 only thing eveer touched me in that area was epidurals and caudal injections since..so its strange..i hope they just got my film mixed with someone elses..my 2007 mri didnt show anythign unusual like this

[spanky]

my mri of my lumbar spine where they say is hardware and screws i see none

[(Broken Wings)]

I'm impressed with the thumbnails. you're good.

You can Google using Google IMAGES "motion artifact +Lumbar MRI" You can see the similarity with your spots. you can also see screws on a few.


definitely no hardware there.

Not a radiologist, but probably just "motion artifacts" on your images.

It happens. From time to time even radiologists are asked to re-read a set of films. One definitely needs to re-read yours. (usually the same radiologist) They are exceptionally qualified or booted out of the profession pretty quickly.

I would suggest you call your referring physician's office and let them know what you think has happened. You may also want to make a note of the date, time, and each person you talk to. Ask them to call you, or better yet, let them know you'll call them to check on the progess. Your referring physician should see that it is corrected and the radiologist should be quick with a second report on your set of films, within 24 hours.

later

Originally Posted by spanky

my mri of my lumbar spine where they say is hardware and screws i see none