cervical mri results? in VA Disability Claims (General) Forum

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cervical mri results?

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jrledee	cervical mri results?		Lead	[-]
Posts: 61 Feb 28 12 1:11 PM	Tags : None There is mild reversal of normal cervical lordosis. There is no acute vertebral body compression fracture. There is mild decreased signal intensity within the intervertebral disc from C3-4 to C6-7. C3-4 There is a mild disc buldge without a focal disc herniation. The central canal and the left neural foramen are patent. There is mild uncovertable hypertrophy which contributes to mild right foraminal stenosis. C5-6, there is a right foraminal disc herniation which contributes to moderate right foraminal stenosis. C6-7 There is no focal disc herniation. There is mild uncovertable hypertrophy bilaterally, which contributes to mild foraminal stenosis. There are mild spondylosis elsewhere within the cervical spine as discussed above without an additional focal disc herniation or significant central/foraminal stenosis. What does this mean?
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Cheffy		#1	[url]	[-]
Posts: 520 Feb 28 12 3:28 PM	I know how you feel I have been trying to figure out what my cervical MRI report too....UGH
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gunsdogs		#2	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1185 Feb 28 12 3:32 PM	jrdelee & Cheffy, ask your doctors to explain your MRI results to you. Anything you get here would be iffy at best.
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jrledee		#3	[url]	[-]
Posts: 61 Feb 28 12 3:34 PM	Ya it sucks wish someone could help me understand. I fell and screwed my neck up while i was on crutches from a surgery on my knee. I was told that I could file this neck condition as a secondary due to me falling from my surgery.
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jrledee		#4	[url]	[-]
Posts: 61 Feb 28 12 3:45 PM	Thanks gunsdogs. I just would like to know if anybody who had similar condition and what did they do to make it better and what did the va do with rating. The doc jus said that i would need steriod injections in my neck.
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ecxpa		#5	[url]	[-]
Posts: 882 Feb 28 12 4:20 PM	You have multilevel disc disease with neuroforaminal compromise and a disc herniation, and disc bulging. This can place pressure on nerve roots. Suspect you are having severe pain in your arms and shoulders with possible radiation of pain into the hand(s). I suspect you will be referred to neurosurgeon, who might order a myelogram CT. How am I today? Too early to tell and too late to make a difference........and who cares anyway.
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cruiser		#6	[url]	[-]
Posts: 17473 Feb 28 12 4:37 PM	ecxpa wrote: You have multilevel disc disease with neuroforaminal compromise and a disc herniation, and disc bulging. This can place pressure on nerve roots. Suspect you are having severe pain in your arms and shoulders with possible radiation of pain into the hand(s). I suspect you will be referred to neurosurgeon, who might order a myelogram CT. While I agree that he might be having some neurological symptoms in the upper extremities, there is no reason to think that there would be "severe" pain in the arms. There might be, but that wouldn't be the norm for such mild changes. The findings on my cervical MRI done several years ago were quite a bit more significant than what this shows and I have very little, if any, neurological symptoms in my arms and hands. Neck pain? Now that's a different story entirely. I have a hunch that if cervical MRIs, or lumbar MRIs for that matter, were done on everyone over the age of 50 there would be similar findings on a large percentage of the population. A lot of these type findings are age related when found in the older population. Cruiser
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jrledee		#7	[url]	[-]
Posts: 61 Feb 28 12 4:41 PM	I have constant intense neck pain and occasional pain down right arm and pain in shoulders. I now have an appointments to get steroid injections and hopefully these will work to help with the pain. I am only 23 and hope that this fixes it.
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ecxpa		#8	[url]	[-]
Posts: 882 Feb 28 12 4:58 PM	cruiser wrote: ecxpa wrote: You have multilevel disc disease with neuroforaminal compromise and a disc herniation, and disc bulging. This can place pressure on nerve roots. Suspect you are having severe pain in your arms and shoulders with possible radiation of pain into the hand(s). I suspect you will be referred to neurosurgeon, who might order a myelogram CT. While I agree that he might be having some neurological symptoms in the upper extremities, there is no reason to think that there would be "severe" pain in the arms. There might be, but that wouldn't be the norm for such mild changes. The findings on my cervical MRI done several years ago were quite a bit more significant than what this shows and I have very little, if any, neurological symptoms in my arms and hands. Neck pain? Now that's a different story entirely. I have a hunch that if cervical MRIs, or lumbar MRIs for that matter, were done on everyone over the age of 50 there would be similar findings on a large percentage of the population. A lot of these type findings are age related when found in the older population. Cruiser True, a large number of folks have disc bulges many people have multilevel disc bulges; this MRI reports at least one disc herniation. It further states that there is neuroforaminal compromise, pt is certain to have sxs. Everybody over the age of 50 does not have these findings. The spondylosis mentioned is common in adults with advancing age; simply put arthritis. Neurogenic pain is one of the worst pains one will encounter. How am I today? Too early to tell and too late to make a difference........and who cares anyway.
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BigDaddy		#9	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1488 Feb 28 12 6:46 PM	My cervical MRI looks very similar to this one and I have had varying degrees of pain and/or numbness in my back, neck, shoulders, arms and fingers. It all depends on how bad any nerve impingement is and while two people may have similar damage or deterioration on the MRI images, they could have vastly different symptoms depending on how the nerve roots are affected as excpa has pointed out. I haven't filed a claim on mine as of yet but even if you are given service connection, my guess is that the rating will still be based on range of motion for your upper back and possibly radiculopathy in the arms etc... if you have it. If the Veterans of our country followed up their promises as the Politicians have, we would all be speaking English as a 2nd language!
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jrledee		#10	[url]	[-]
Posts: 61 Feb 28 12 7:02 PM	Thanks for the insight. My range of motion is good turning to the left but turning to the right I could only go so much. Jut want this pain to stop its driving me crazy. Does anyone know if the epidural injection work well in the neck for pain.
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BigDaddy		#11	[url]	[-]
Posts: 1488 Feb 28 12 7:32 PM	jrledee wrote: Thanks for the insight. My range of motion is good turning to the left but turning to the right I could only go so much. Jut want this pain to stop its driving me crazy. Does anyone know if the epidural injection work well in the neck for pain. Works for many, but it didn't for me. I had it done twice with little effect and I was suffering from some really debilitating pain for about 3 years. A few months after my last injection, I woke up one morning and most of the pain was just gone unless I try to do things to bring it on. It still hurts moderately most of the time, but at least its manageable now. I asked my pain specialist who had given me the injections if they could have caused the pain to let up and she said there was no way it could have done it after that long? I still wonder if they had something to do with it though? I have seen many posts here of people whom the epidural injections helped immensely but they usually only last about 6 months before you will need another one. I wish you luck and hope they work for you!! If the Veterans of our country followed up their promises as the Politicians have, we would all be speaking English as a 2nd language!
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jrledee		#12	[url]	[-]
Posts: 61 Feb 28 12 8:10 PM	Thank you hope it works
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cruiser		#13	[url]	[-]
Posts: 17473 Feb 29 12 12:10 AM	ecxpa wrote: It further states that there is neuroforaminal compromise, pt is certain to have sxs. I didn't say that there wouldn't be symptoms. I simply disagreed with your statement that he would be having "severe pain" in his shoulders and arms. It's possible, but not really likely given the relatively mild nature of the stenosis. My wife and I both have more severe multi-level cervical stenosis than is shown on this MRI and we both have relatively mild neurological symptoms in the upper extremities. Again, I was only disagreeing with your assessment that he probably has "severe" shoulder and arm pain. I also didn't say that "everyone" over 50 would have these symptoms; I said that a large percentage of them would. I didn't just make this up. This is what I was told by both my orthopedic surgeon and my neurologist. Not only are degenerative changes (arthritis) common in the spine as one ages, but also the discs become softer and are prone to differing degrees of herniation. Here is what WebMD has to say about this: Cervical spinal stenosis is usually caused by age-related changes in the shape of the spinal canal and so is most common in people older than age 50. The aging process can cause a "bulging of the discs"-the spongy discs between the bones of the spine bulge out farther than normal-or a thickening of tissues that connect bones (ligaments). Aging can also lead to destruction of tissues that cover bones (cartilage) and excessive growth of the bones in joints. These conditions can narrow the spinal canal (spinal stenosis). Many people older than age 50 have some narrowing of the spinal canal but do not have symptoms. Cervical spinal stenosis does not cause symptoms unless the spinal cord or nerves becomes squeezed. http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/cervical-spinal-stenosis-topic-overview Both of these conditions can, but not always, result in pressure being exerted on the spinal nerve roots which results in pain or numbness in that particular nerve distribution. Stenosis that is mild, or even moderate like in the case of my wife and me, will often produce no significant neurological symptoms in the peripheral nerves. It varies from person to person. As for neurogenic pain, I am very familiar with it. In addition to my multi-level cervical stenosis, I also sufffered ulnar nerve damage when I fractured my wrist. The wrist required surgery and now the already damaged ulnar nerve is encased in scar tissue. I have a 20 percent evaluation for the pain and dysfunction in that hand due to this ulnar nerve injury. Cruiser
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brewha44		#14	[url]	[-]
Posts: 996 Feb 29 12 12:31 AM	These changes could be normal in a 40 or 50 year old but not a 23 year old without some cause. Sports injury, rapid growth on tall person,genetic,or a military mos carrying a ruck or something heavy. Or even whiplash from car wreck. Edited 1 time by brewha44 Feb 29 12 1:00 AM.
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ecxpa		#15	[url]	[-]
Posts: 882 Feb 29 12 12:55 AM	This is an issue with no simple straightforward answer. Neuroforaminal stenosis can be a cause of pressure on the nerve root. The term spinal stenosis encompasses a wide array of issues. There can be relatively mild sumptoms or severe symptoms. You can have spinal stenosis that does not compress the spinal cord but the foramina usually does put some pressure on the nerve. When you get spinal cord compression you get into major pblms with a myelopathy. Spinal stenosis can occur anywhere along the spinal colum. The OP reports cervical issues. I would encourage him to see a neurosurgeon. Cruiser you are lucky to have mild neuro sxs; severe neurogenic pain is a BITCH.. Good Luck Irledee. How am I today? Too early to tell and too late to make a difference........and who cares anyway.
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Cheffy		#16	[url]	[-]
Posts: 520 Feb 29 12 12:56 AM	Is it also common for the disc to get disk dessication ( which means the disk in your neck loses it moisture) when you are in your 40 -50 year range.
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381SPS		#17	[url]	[-]
Posts: 444 Feb 29 12 1:57 AM	I would ave to agree with Cruiser on this one. I am on my second cervical fusion and the mild symptoms should not cause the pain you say you are getting. Definitely further studies should be done. An Ortho or Neuro doc needs to read these films. I suspect that unless the can see more you are only going to get some type of injections before any thing else is done. You really don't want to have any type of cervical surgery unless there is no alternative. Once you start one they don't seem stop. First one level then a couple of years another.
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nmfxstc		#18	[url]	[-]
Posts: 25229 Feb 29 12 4:49 AM	I have pretty much the same as the OP, but at C5 - C6.....severe pain along my right arm and the tingling and feeling my hand has been slammed n a car door! initial symptoms were textbook CTS, but an EMG and nerve study (that's torture) ruled that out (says neurology)....MRI of the C-spine and brachial plexus revealed stenosis and a mild to moderated bulge at the level mentioned,.....a radio isotope scan was also conducted because of a dark shadow on the vertebrae. but the Big C was ruled out. saw pain Mgmt (anesthesia) who really did a great job of sowing me different and exploded views of the MRI and other scans.....suggest the corticosteroid injections to see what relief I may get (Gabapentin does a bit, but not much and Oxycodone doesn't seem to do a thing!) I'm in for the injections and have a lot of confidence in this anesthesiologist! Fillean meal ar an meallaire.
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ecxpa		#19	[url]	[-]
Posts: 882 Feb 29 12 7:49 AM	jrledee wrote: C5-6, there is a right foraminal disc herniation which contributes to moderate right foraminal stenosis. This is a culprit in the OP's case. This says "herniation" , which is a significant problem, this is not just disc bulging, or dessication. Usually caused by trauma. Pt could have rupture of the disc with leakage of disc material . If there is protrusion of the disc material onto the nerve it can cause inflammation. Oftentimes steroid injections do provide transient relief. Disc bulging usually do no require surgical intervention, conservative measures including getting off of your feet and pain meds usually help. The OP needs to see a neurosurgeon for an opinion not ortho. In the "old days" ortho would attempt surgery and today some still do in other areas of the spine but today neurosurgeons usually do the intervention. This problem in the C-Spine needs a "look see" by a neurosurgeon. How am I today? Too early to tell and too late to make a difference........and who cares anyway.
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cruiser		#20	[url]	[-]
Posts: 17473 Feb 29 12 9:03 AM	ecxpa wrote: This says "herniation" , which is a significant problem, this is not just disc bulging, or dessication. . I don't mean to beat this to death; however, I will begin by saying that you are technically correct in that a bulging disc and a herniated disc aren't the same thing, but the mere fact that there is disc herniation doesn't mean that there is automatically going to be severe pain or other neurological symptoms. That's the only point that I've been trying to make. For example, this quote from the Mayo Clinic web site: "many people have bulging disks or herniated disks that cause no pain whatsoever." http://www.mayoclinic.com...lth/bulging-disk/AN00272 This problem in the C-Spine needs a "look see" by a neurosurgeon Perhaps, but unless there are significant symptoms present it is unlikely that a doctor will refer you to a neurosurgeon, and I have yet to know of a neurosurgeon who would take a patient without a referral from the person's doctor. I read a good article in a medical journal a few years back about spinal surgery for herniated discs that addressed the reason that in so many instances the surgery provided no more relief than much more conservative measures. The thinking is that many older folks have bulging or herniated discs but don't know it because they produce little or no symptoms and since most folks don't routinely have MRIs they will never know they have a bulging or herniated disc unless something comes along that causes the doc to order an MRI of the spine. When this MRI reveals the herniated disc, the doc would immediately think that this is the cause of the problem and do surgery, but the surgery didn't always solve the problem. This has led to some revisions in the way docs think about disc herniation since it appears that in many cases the disc herniation was simply a collateral finding that wasn't actually the culprit for the neck or back symptoms. This is why there is a trend toward more physical therapy and less surgery these days. Cruiser
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