Hello everyone, I am new to this site and was hoping to get some help understanding my mri report.
I have been over the past year suffering from extreme fatigue(feels like i’m walking through mud) pains in my legs (burning pains in my feet and shooting pains from my thighs down to my ankles) and feeling drunk! Also have periods of intense itching. I have also been having severe headaches. My gp sent me for an urgent mri last april which stated ’ multiple small foci high T2 signal in deep white matter both cerebral hemispheres’ Since my symptoms are at the moment really bad I am seeing a nuerologist in 3 weeks but my Gp seems to think it could be MS. Is this what my MRI seems to say? I don’t know what all the jargon means and would appreciate it if someone could traslate it for me.
The report isn’t terribly detailed so I can’t tell you anything except that you have a number of lesions (areas of damage) in both halves of the main part of your brain. This in itself doesn’t really say anything though because there are all sorts of things that can cause this including migraine, vitamin deficiencies and MS.
What the neuro will be considering is precisely where the lesions are and how many there are along with your medical history and the results of a clinical exam (testing your reflexes, balance, walking, etc). It’s possible that you’ll need other tests to help work out what’s going on so be prepared to have to wait longer for an answer from the neuro
If you have a look at the Sticky post I did a while ago about the brain and MRI, you’ll find an explanation about the terms in the MRI report.
If you have any further details about the report and can’t work it out, feel free to ask. I’m not a neuro or a radiologist, but I can translate the jargon at least.
hello again.
thanks for the reply to my post.I have just received a fuller mri report today it says 'MRI SCAN OF BRAIN, FLAIR SAGITTAL AND T1 PLUS GAD AXIAL AND SAGITTAL: Comparison is made with scan of 12/04/2013.
The Flair view confirms the multiple small foci of high T2 in the deep white matter of the cerebral hemispheres and there is also high T2 signal adjacent to the tips of the anterior horns of both lateral ventricles. There is no high signal in the corpus callosum and the distribution is non specific and would still be consistant with demyelation. There is no enhancement after contrast.
What does this mean? Does demyelation in these places mean MS? I am going to my next appointment with the neuro on the 17th and want to be as prepared as possible.I would be grateful if you could tell me what it all means.
Many Thanks
Was about to try and reply on my phone, but I really need two hands or it will take ages so, sorry, but I know I said I was about to reply on my pm, but I’m going to have to make you wait a wee while - I must get up!!! Will be as quick as poss. Kx
“MRI SCAN OF BRAIN, FLAIR SAGITTAL AND T1 PLUS GAD AXIAL AND SAGITTAL” is just the types of scans that they did.
“The Flair view confirms the multiple small foci of high T2 in the deep white matter of the cerebral hemispheres” means that two types of scan showed multiple small lesions in both halves of your cerebrum, the biggest part of the brain. This is a cut and paste from my Sticky post that will hopefully explain the terms:
“and there is also high T2 signal adjacent to the tips of the anterior horns of both lateral ventricles.” means that there are lesions at the front tips of the reservoirs of cerebrospinal fluid in the middle of your brain. Here’s another cut & paste:
“There is no high signal in the corpus callosum” means that your corpus callosum looks fine. The corpus callosum is the main crossing of white matter between the left and the right hemispheres, helping each side communicate with the other one. The corpus callosum is often damaged by MS, especially as time goes on.
“the distribution is non specific and would still be consistant with demyelation” means that where the lesions are doesn’t point towards any particular condition, but that they could be caused by demyelination. Demyelination is the process in which the myelin coating of nerves is damaged so they no longer work properly. If you think about the computer/phone example I gave above, myelin is like the plastic covering the wires in the USB cable. Demyelination is one of the key processes that happens in MS, but also occurs in other conditions like vitamin B12 deficiency, ADEM and some genetic conditions.
“There is no enhancement after contrast.” means that none of your lesions showed up as white in the scan they did after they did the injection of the “contrast agent”, gadolinium. This means that none of your lesions was “active”, ie currrently forming, something that is often found when someone is having a relapse.
