Fay A. Posted September 25, 2004 Share Posted September 25, 2004 I'm scheduled for a MRI of the head with contrast, and a MRI of the thoracic spine without contrast. What is the most sensitive means of imaging the spine? I've been having severe back pain (diagnosed as muscle spasms) for quite a while, but in the past week I have experienced a feeling of burning, electric shock running across the left (non surgery) side of my back, along with the sensation of something crawling across my skin when there is nothing there. (I live in Black Widow and Brown Recluse country... so anything that feels like a creepy crawly gets my attention.). I was told that the contrast used in MRIs interferes with the ability to see very small mets to the spine, but this seems to contradict what I've read . Any help clearing this up will be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richinsdakota Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Hi; afraid I cant help explain, Im just undergoing brain (done) and spine (next week) MRIs. I know they did the brain with and with out contrast, but dont think the spine uses contrast. (No fasting needed, anyway) Anyway, Ill try to remember to ask , find out as much as I can ...next week...k...cya Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowflake Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Fay, Mark had an MRI of the spine due to an x-ray showing 'compression' of the disks. He had to have contrast dye for his MRI. I'm not sure how that would work for mets, since that isn't what was being looked at in his case... My brain MRI (seeking possible mets) did involve contrast dye. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kimblanchard Posted September 26, 2004 Share Posted September 26, 2004 Contrast dye can help sort out whether abnormalities (and if you've ever seen an MRI report, there are always abnormalities....) are likely to be benign or malignant. Most helpful in the brain in particular (sometimes hard to tell if small spots might be old strokes or small mets) and to a lesser extent the spine. MRI without contrast of spine is very unlikely to miss anything though, some docs like to get without contrast and if anything questionable is seen, repeat it with contrast. I usually just get the contrast up front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SJAS Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Fay, Steve has had so many CT's, MRI's and two PET's - it's a bit hard to keep it all straight. When Steve was being evaluated by a Tumor Board for possible Gamma Knife surgery, they had him do a couple of triple-dose MRI's which were said to be much more sensitive than the regular kind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Melinda Posted September 27, 2004 Share Posted September 27, 2004 Fay-- Geoff and I will see what we can find out from our docs. Geoff's mom had a really good (thoughtful and competant) radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. We both thought quite highly of him; he treated patients as people bucking an assembly-line institutional trend. I'll put in a call and see what he has to say. I hope we can get some information for you. You are in our thoughts, as always. Melinda Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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