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Old 12-20-2016, 09:42 PM #1
BellaLea BellaLea is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2013
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BellaLea BellaLea is offline
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 13
10 yr Member
Confused Foraminal Stenosis

Hello! I'm actually an old BrainTalk user and have had an increase in in symptoms, particularly after a 5 car crash while sitting still at a stoplight. My Neuro issues are becoming worrisome including loss of balance, hyperreflexes in upper and lower extremities, leg weakness, & of course recent whiplash with pain in my left neck and a couple of falls. I'm 56 and work full time.

Below are my new MRI results. I had a C5-6 fusion in 2014. I'm worried about my increasing leg weakness. My lumbar was looking pretty good a year ago after a PLIF in 2004, so why all the leg problems? Any insight would be appreciated.

MRI CERVICAL SPINE WITHOUT IV CONTRAST

PROCEDURE DATE/TIME: 11/16/2016 10:43 AM

HISTORY: Neck pain worsening after an MVA in September. History of prior
cervical fusions

Comparison: None available.

Technique: Multiplanar, multisequence MR imaging of the cervical spine was
performed without IV contrast.

Findings: There is some motion artifact on the examination which projects over
the cord

Head: The included intracranial structures are unremarkable. There is an
incidental partially empty sella. The craniocervical junction is normal.

Alignment: There is minimal degenerative anterolisthesis of C7 on T1 associated
with degenerative facet disease. There is slight cervicothoracic scoliosis

Vertebrae: The vertebrae have normal height. There are no focal vertebral
lesions.

Marrow: No signal abnormality.

Intervertebral discs: There is degenerative anterior spurring at the C4-5 level
with preserved disc height. Solid anterior interbody fusions are seen at C5-6
and C6-7 levels. There is also anterior fusion hardware with screws and plate
spanning C5 and C6.

Spinal cord: Normal size and signal with no focal lesions. There is no syrinx
or myelomalacia.

Soft tissues: No paraspinal mass is seen.

C2-3: There is a minimal disc bulge with posterior spurring more pronounced on
the right without cord compression or stenosis. There is degenerative facet
hypertrophy on the right with moderate to marked right foraminal stenosis. The
left foramina is normal.

C3-4: The disc is normal. There is marked degenerative facet disease on the
right at this level with facet hypertrophy. There is a markedly stenotic
foramina on the right. The left foramina is normal.

C4-5: There is a mild disc bulge without cord compression or spinal canal
stenosis. There is no significant foraminal stenosis at this level.

C5-6: No canal or foraminal stenosis is seen at this fusion level.

C6-7: No canal or foraminal stenosis at this fusion level.

C7-T1: There is a mild pseudobulge associated with anterolisthesis. There is no
canal stenosis or cord compression. The right foramen is normal. There is
degenerative facet hypertrophy on the left at this level producing moderate to
marked left foraminal stenosis seen best on sagittal image 3 series 3. Right
foramen is normal.
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Old 12-21-2016, 07:33 AM #2
glenntaj glenntaj is offline
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glenntaj glenntaj is offline
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Default Well--

--there is evidence of right sided foraminal narrowing in your upper cervical spine that would be consistent both with normal aging processes and with a little extra thrown in by trauma, such as a whiplash producing accident. Given the levels indicated, you'd likely feel that in the back of your head and/or neck.

Doesn't look like there's frank spinal cord problems there, but some of the symptoms could be explained by upper cervical trauma.

I would think, though, you'd need both thoracic and lumbar MRI's to see if the accident caused appreciable trauma there. And it's always possible this is something more peripheral as opposed to spinal, as peripheral and spinal neural symptoms have considerable overlap.
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"Thanks for this!" says:
BellaLea (12-26-2016), ger715 (12-29-2016)
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