[imsdac]

Hi everyone,

I just found this forum today researching my MRI results and I was wondering if anyone else could help shed some light on this report. I'm still waiting to hear back from my neurologist to go over it but in the meantime, I'm looking for any info I can get.

A little background. Last year I was diagnosed with occipital neuralgia after years of being misdiagnosed as having migraines without aura. I've had these headaches for years with pain that radiates down my right arm and numbness/tingling. It's always on my right side. I've had physical therapy and numerous steroid injections (occipital nerve blocks) and although it relieves the pain, it's always temporary. I am now on muscle relaxants as well as migraine preventative medications.

So, because of my continuous need for the occipital nerve blocks, I pushed my neuro into trying to figure out what exactly is causing these constant headaches/neck/arm/shoulder pain. She suggested an MRI of the cervical spine to see if I had a pinched nerve. So, these are the results that I got:

MRI OF THE CERVICAL SPINE WITHOUT CONTRAST

INDICATION: Cervical pain with right arm weakness and numbness.

TECHNIQUE: MRI of the cervical spine was performed under standard protocol.

COMPARISON: None.

FINDINGS:

Study slightly motion limited.

Very mild levoscoliosis of the cervical spine, which may be positional. Mild
(grade 1) retrolisthesis of C5 on C6. Preservation of vertebral body heights
without evidence for vertebral body compression fractures. Mild disc space
narrowing noted at C5/6. The prevertebral soft tissues are unremarkable. STIR
images demonstrate no abnormal signal. The craniocervical junction is
unremarkable, without evidence of Chiari malformation. The cervical cord signal
is normal.

C2-C3: The cental canal and bilateral neural foramina are widely patent.

C3-C4: The cental canal and bilateral neural foramina are widely patent.

C4-C5: The cental canal and bilateral neural foramina are widely patent.

C5-C6: Anterior disc osteophyte complex. Posterior disc protrusion with a left
lateral component. Disc material indents without definitely contacting the
anterior aspect of the cervical cord. The central canal is moderately narrowed
to 7.5 mm in maximum AP diameter. Tiny posterior annular fissure noted at this
level. Mild right-sided neural foraminal narrowing from uncovertebral joint
hypertrophy. The left neural foramen is widely patent. Very mild right-sided
ligamentum flavum thickening.

C6-C7: The cental canal and bilateral neural foramina are widely patent.

C7-T1: The cental canal and bilateral neural foramina are widely patent.

IMPRESSION:

1. C5/6 with an anterior disc osteophyte complex. Posterior disc protrusion with
a left lateral component. Disc material indents without definitely contacting
the anterior aspect of the cervical cord. The central canal is moderately
narrowed to 7.5 mm in maximum AP diameter. Tiny posterior annular fissure noted
at this level. Mild right-sided neural foraminal narrowing from uncovertebral
joint hypertrophy. The left neural foramen is widely patent. Very mild
right-sided ligamentum flavum thickening. Mild (grade 1) retrolisthesis of C5 on
C6 and disc space narrowing at C5/C6 noted.

2. Remaining levels of the cervical spine are unremarkable.

Sorry this is so long... if anyone can help decipher this, I would greatly appreciate it!

Thanks.