understanding cervical mri results
 

Can someone please help me understand the severity of my cervical mri. Am I looking at surgery. nerve pain bi lateral through shoulder, arms and into middle and ring fingers. back and neck pain.

straighting of the acervical curvature. degenerative disc narrowing is prsent including c-5 c-6 and c6- c7. Small prevertebral osteophytes are present . c3 -c4 mild diffuse disc bulging uncinate process spurring. moderate right neural foraminal stenosis. c4-c5 mild diffuse disc bulging mild facet degeneration and uncinate process spurring mild righ neural foraminal stenosis c5-c6 mild diffuse disc bulging larger in the left paracertral region. mild central canal stenosis with mild moderate spinal cord deformity, greater on left. Uncinate process spurring. Marked left neural foraminal stenosis.

c6-c7 mild diffuse disc bulging. mild spinal cord deformity but relative patencyor central canal.
this may be associated with hypertrophy or early ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament.

Thank you for any help. :winky:

Let's see if I can help:

Straightening of the cervical curvature, means that your neck isn't as curved as it should be. That can be caused by a number of things, one being spasms.

Degenerative disc narrowing at C5-6 & C6-7. Ok, degenerative disc disease means that the discs are drying out. When they dry out, they flatten and that causes them to bulge out/herniate. When they flatten, that leaves more space between the vertebra, so the upper vertebra "sinks" down toward the one below cause there's nothing holding it up. So we become shorter!!! Small pre-vertebral osteophytes present -- this means you have bone spurs.

C3-4 Mild diffuse disc bulging. Uncinate process spurring -- this means bone spurs with a hook at the end. Moderate right neural foraminal stenosis. Foraminal stenosis -- the foramen are the holes that the nerves go thru to get to the spinal cord - Stenosis means that those holes are getting narrow.

C4-5 Mild diffuse disc bulging. Mild facet degeneration. The facets are the "wing like" structures on each side of the spinal cord. You can feel them if you hunch your back over. Uncinate spurring (see above) and foraminal stenosis (see above)

C5-6 Mild diffuse disc bulge larger in paracentral region. Mild central canal stenosis. This means the spinal canal is getting narrow. Mild to moderate spinal canal deformity greater on the left. Uncinate spurring (see above)
Marked left foraminal stenosis (see above)

C6-7 Mild diffuse disc bulge. Mild spinal canal deformity but relative (I don't recognize this next word Patencyor) central canal. If it is patency or, I can understand.
He states it might be associated with hypertrophy, which is excessive development of an organ or bone or ossification of posterior longitudinal ligament. There is a LONG-drawn out explanation of that. But what it is basically (very basic) is the process of bone formation that segregates & deposits inorganic bone substances.

You should take this MRI to a Neurosurgeon and get an opinion. Then if he suggests surgery, you should get AT LEAST 2 MORE opinions. Never give the OK to surgery without 3 opinions!!! Once you have surgery, you can't "undo" it. And surgery is NOT for pain. Surgery is ONLY for mechanical problems. After surgery you will have the same pain or worse. And you will need pain medications too. So be sure what you're doing is the right thing. The only way i would have surgery (more surgery) is if I were in danger of permanent nerve damage or if my spinal cord was being impinged. So get some opinions. Since i'm not a doctor, I can't give you any opinion, but I AM concerned about your spinal cord. So be sure you see a Neurosurgeon -- NOT a Neurologist, but a NeuroSURGEON .

Best of luck and God bless. Hugs, Lee

Sometimes the mechanical problems can be the cause of the pain, in that case, and with a good surgeon, the pain could resolve.

There are so many factors that can affect results, we can't say for sure if your pain and symptoms will go away or not. It might be reduced, resolved, or remain the same..

thank you
 

Thank you Leesa,

I appreciate your input and help in understanding the MRI. I do have an appointment Friday with a Orthopedic spine specialist. I will see what he has to say and then consult a neurosugeon.
:winky:Rhondaroo

thanks
 

Thank you I appreciate your input.

Cervical MRI
 

Neck pain extending into the shoulders and arms with tingling and numbness. Bilateral weekness. History of rheumatoid arthritis/fibromayalgia/lupus. History of previous surgery at C6-C7 in March of 2004.

TECHNIQUE:
Multiplanar, multisequence image acquisitions of the cervical spine were obtained using a 0.6 Tesla Fonar Stand-Up/Upright MRI unit. No intravenous contrast was given. Intravenous access could not be obtained.

FINDINGS:
Alignment and Bony Structures:

There has been previous fusion of C6 and C7.

There is a soft tissue posterior to the odontoid process which is low signal intensity on all imaging sequences. It may be fibrosis/pannus related to rheumatoid arthritis. It midly narrows the craniocervical junction. However,, there is no impingement of the cord.

Spinal Cord: Normal in size, contour and signal initensity.

There has been probable resection of the left love of the tyroid gland. Correlate with clinical history.

Disc Spaces:

C2-3: normal

C3-4: Disc space height is well maintained. There is disc osteophyte complex centrally and extending to the left, abutting and the thecal sac. There is uncinate spurring on the left. These findings contribute to severe left neural foraminal narrowing. The right neural foramen is patent. There is no spinal stenosis.

C4-5: disc space height is well maintained. There is a small central disc protrusion abutting the ventral thecal sac. The neural foramen are patent. There is no spinal stenosis.

C5-6: There is mild disc psace narrowing. There is no disc bulge or disc protrusion. There is no spinal stenosis or neural framinal stenosis.

C6-7: There is fusion of C6 and C7. The neural foramina are patent. There is relative mild spinal canal narrowing. However ther is no spinal stenosis.

C70T1: disc space height is well maintained. There is minimal disc ostephyte complex and a small central disc protrusion. The neural framen are patent. Ther is mild relative spinal canal narrowing. However there is no spinal stenosis.

JUST WANT TO KNOW IF I AM LOOKING AT POSSIBLE SURGER ON ANY OF THIS. THANKS.

Welcome bzappers21. :Wave-Hello: