Hey everyone,

I would like some help in understanding these MRI results. For some history I had a laminectomy/discectomy back in Nov 2010 as I had a moderate herniation at the L5-S1 pushing on the S1 nerve root. Everything went great until about a month ago when I had a sudden return of pain and the pain was probably about 10x worse than any pain I had pre-op. Got a new MRI and need help understanding it all. Also the mention of bulges at L1 up through L4 is new and was not mentioned on my MRI that I had a year ago.


Findings: The conus ends at L1. The size and signal intensity of the distal spinal cord is normal. The vertebral bodies are well aligned. Disc space narrowing and desiccation is present at the L5-S1. A right L5 laminectomy has been performed. Adjacent soft tissue/muscular and subcutaneous enhancement is present. No discrete fluid collection is seen.

L1-L2: Minimal posterior bulging disc.

L2-L3: Mild posterior bulging disc.

L3-L4: Mild posterior bulging disc.

L4-L5: Mild posterior bulging disc. Mild ligamentum flavum hypertrophy. Mild bilateral joint facet degeneration.

L5-S1: Decreased size/resection of the posterior herniated disc. Posterior disc bulging/herniation with lateralization to the right. The disc touches the right S1 nerve root. Left ligamentum flavum hypertrophy. Early bilateral joint facet degeneration.

Impression: Postoperative changes at the L5-S1. Posterior bulging/herniated disc at this level lateralizing to the right tourching the right S1 nerve roots. Overall size of the herniation is improved.

Let me see if I can help:

From L1-L5 there are rear disc bulges.

At L4-5 "Ligamentum Flavum" hypertrophy ~ The ligamentum flavum is a series of ligaments of yellow elastic tissue connecting the laminae of adjacent vertebrae from the axis to the sacrum. You have an overgrowth of this tissue.

L5-S1 The herniation is decreased in size but it touches the L5-S1 nerve root.
You also have ligamentum flavum hypertrophy here too. There is facet joint degeneration. The facets are those "wing-like" structures on each side of your spine - you can see them if you hunch your back. They stick out down the middle of your back on each side of the spine. You mention dessication at L5-S1, and you're fortunate it's not the whole spine. Dessication is drying out of the discs, and we get that with age, although some of us get it earlier than others. When the discs dry out, they tend to "squish" down & flatten, causing them to bulge/herniate.

I hope this helped a little. If you have more questions, let me know. Hugs, Lee

I also just got my X-Ray results back and it states:

Findings:
Mild multilevel disc space narrowing is present. Slight multilevel endplace spurring is present. Multilevel mid to lower lumbar joint facet arthropathy is present. A few calcific densities superimpose the left flank. The largest is about 5.8 mm

Impression:
Multilevel Degenerative Disc Disease.
Left flank calcifications suggestive of renal stones.