MRI Results vs Sympoms

Tagged: Transposition of symptoms and images

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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Dvonya
Participant

January 3, 2018 at 1:14 pm

Post count: 2

#27207

Good Afternoon,
I am writing today because of a MRI that I recently had compared with my symptoms have left me confused and the Dr. that I have been seen has left me with unanswered questions and pain. I am a 34 year old female who is mostly healthy minus a few musculoskeletal issues.

Below you will find the MRI findings. The tricky part about what the report says is that the neurological symptoms I have are transposed. As per the MRI the C6-C7 disc herniation should be creating neurological symptoms and pain on my left side. My radiculopathy is on the right. I have extreme numbness and tingling as well as weakness in my right arm.

Recently I have been having mild numbness/tingling on the left, but extreme on the right. Sometimes I struggle to hold my hand up. If I were still a school aged child I would not be able to raise my hand in class.

TECHNIQUE:
MRI of the cervical spine was performed without intravenous contrast.
FINDINGS:
There is straightening of the normal cervical lordosis. Alignment is otherwise anatomic. The vertebral body heights are preserved. There is slight loss of normal disc height and signal intensity at C6-C7. Marrow signal is within normal limits for patient’s young age. No suspicious osseous lesions are identified.The craniocervical junction is unremarkable. There is no spinal canal mass. The spinal cord is normal in caliber. There is no intrinsic spinal cord signal abnormality. There is no discrete epidural collection. There are no significant paravertebral or prevertebral soft tissue abnormalities. There is a small T2 hyperintense nodule the right lobe of the thyroid measuring approximately 4-5 mm. Flow voids are preserved within the imaged portions of both vertebral arteries.
At C6-C7, there is disc bulge with superimposed central/left paracentral disc herniation with some extension into the left neural
foramen. There is facet arthrosis. Although there is no significant central canal stenosis, there is significant distortion of the left
ventral lateral thecal sac with some flattening and deformity of the underlying spinal cord. Mild narrowing of the left neural foramen. There are mild degenerative changes at the remaining cervical levels without central canal or neural foraminal stenosis.
Impression
Central/left paracentral disc herniation at C6-C7 compressing the left ventral lateral aspect of the thecal sac, subarticular recess and foramen to a mild degree.

The Dr. I saw said that he doesn’t know why my symptoms and imaging are transposed, but he is unable to “fix” me. The same thing is happening with my lumbar spine. I have imaging showing that my pain should be on the left and I have pain and burning on the right leg.
I have been dealing with these issues for almost 10 years. Is there anything that could possibly explain this?

Help!

Thanks

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 3, 2018 at 1:45 pm

Post count: 8660

#27208

“Recently I have been having mild numbness/tingling on the left, but extreme on the right. Sometimes I struggle to hold my hand up. If I were still a school aged child I would not be able to raise my hand in class”. My bet is thoracic outlet syndrome superimposed upon a rotator cuff tear on the right. See https://neckandback.com/conditions/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/ along with https://neckandback.com/conditions/rotator-cuff-syndrome-shoulder-impingement-syndrome/

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.

Dvonya
Participant

January 3, 2018 at 2:01 pm

Post count: 2

#27209

Thank you for your response.

Interesting. I have previously had 3 shoulder surgeries. One for instability, one to remove the bursa in the scapular area and lastly in 2012 a repair of a mild labral tear. Since then I have had relief in the shoulder in terms of pain and impingement and more neck symptoms.

Again,
I greatly appreciate your insight.

Dvonya –PA

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

January 3, 2018 at 2:22 pm

Post count: 8660

#27210

If you have a multiple surgical shoulder and have a recurrent tear, I would recommend my partner at the clinic, Peter Millet as he has an outstanding track record and specializes in reconstruction of multiply operated shoulders.

Dr. Corenman

PLEASE REMEMBER, THIS FORUM IS MEANT TO PROVIDE GENERAL INFORMATION ON SPINE ANATOMY, CONDITIONS AND TREATMENTS. TO GET AN ACCURATE DIAGNOSIS, YOU MUST VISIT A QUALIFIED PROFESSIONAL IN PERSON.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC is a highly-regarded spine surgeon, considered an expert in the area of neck and back pain. Trained as both a Medical Doctor and Doctor of Chiropractic, Dr. Corenman earned academic appointments as Clinical Assistant Professor and Assistant Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and his research on spine surgery and rehabilitation has resulted in the publication of multiple peer-reviewed articles and two books.
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Donald Corenman, MD, DC

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81 reviews

Eric S

Sep 26, 2021

by Eric S on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Successful pars repair at 46 years old

Back in November of 2018 (at 46 years old) I came from Vancouver BC to have a pars repair done with Dr. Donald Corenman at the Steadman Clinic in Vail Colorado. I'm finally posting this review nearly three years later in late 2021. The reason I waited so long was I wanted to know the final result before I posted my review. Unfortunately in that time Dr. Corenman has retired. Nevertheless, I want to post this review of Dr. Corenman and his staff at the Steadman Clinic in their excellent treatment of my L5 pars interarticularis.

I fractured my pars at age 42 back in 2014 when rolling on the gym floor, and was denied treatment by the Canadian healthcare system, probably due to my age. First my GP told me there was no surgical option for a pars defect, which was quite incorrect! I tried to live with it, but the symptoms worsened (periodic random spine slippage and weeks of resultant pain after just bending over to tie my shoe, so I eventually learned to mostly squat and hardly bend). When I finally consulted with Canadian spine surgeons, I was told they believed my pars defect had been congenital (since birth). This was absurd, considering I had done extreme martial arts (including jiu jitsu) for years prior, as well as 5 years of reinforcing steel full time in my 20s, probably the hardest job on the back you can find. No pars defect like mine would possibly have allowed this--ergo it was impossible that I had had the defect since birth. I did however have an asymptomatic congenital spina bifida occulta that made me more susceptible to a pars fracture. In 2014 in one instant, I went from having the strongest back people I knew said they'd ever seen, to being unable to safely bend over and tie my shoe without a non-negligible risk of my spine slipping randomly (which would lead to weeks of pain after each occurrence). This was due to the unilateral L5 pars defect, otherwise known as spondylolysis. It was when lying in pain on the floor 4 years later after maybe the 6th spine slippage event post injury, that I had had enough, and resolved to have surgery. If Canada's "universal health care" said no, I would make lemonade from lemons, and find the very best surgeon in the world at pars repairs. That was Dr. Donald Corenman. Dr. Corenman back in 2018 ran a website https://neckandback.com/ that dedicated many pages to the science of every aspect of pars repairs, from eligibility (good discs on MRI), to best surgical techniques (minimal open compared to minimally invasive), best imaging to use (i.e., O-Arm with Stealth imaging vs. older fluoroscopy), the ideal amount of BMP to use and why not use too much or too little, and much more, all to do with pars repairs, pages upon pages of his site just on the pars, with scientific references and his own extensive expert opinion. As a health research statistician, I was very impressed with this. It was in stark contrast to the websites of other spine surgeons which barely gave the pars a word or two, focusing almost exclusively on fusions. I had found the best surgeon in the world for pars repairs, and so after Dr. Corenman personally screened my MRI to ensure my discs were healthy, I booked the surgery.

Being 46 years old at the time of surgery in 2018, with a 4-year-old pars fracture from 2014 combined with a congenital SBO meant my pars fragment was somewhat atrophied, but it was "very solid", said Dr. Corenman in the operative report. Nevertheless, it was challenging with two things to fix, the pars and SBO, and OR time was around 4 hours. Recovery over the following months was guided by a very clear "Spine binder" from the Steadman Clinic with strict rules of "no BLT" (no bending, lifting or twisting), and illustrated physiotherapy guidelines. They even warned patients to avoid fish oil supplements, which could excessively dampen inflammation and hence slow bone healing. They answered many questions I had during months of recovery, with responses coming from the very supportive Lori Fugate (then director of Dr. Corenman's practice), and Ehrich Bean (then physician's assistant at the practice), as well as a couple calls with Dr. Corenman himself after two of the CT scans. Ehrich Bean offered great advice for taking the spine binder conservatively due to the nature of pars repairs vs. fusions. The final post-op CT scan I had was a couple weeks ago at 34 months post-op, and Dr. Corenman had retired, but I got a very positive and informative call from Eric Strauch (current PA at the Steadman Clinic under Dr. Corenman's replacement there, and who had also worked with Dr. Corenman previously). The staff at the Steadman Clinic were extremely supportive all the way through the process. I should mention, the local Canadian spine surgeon did offer me very good post-operative support including antibiotics as needed to deal with a mild surface incision-site infection early on, booking numerous x-rays when I felt something was amiss, as well as booking all four of my post-op CT scans. I am very grateful for that support also.

My final result shows plenty of solid bone across the pars and a healed SBO, with my vertebral body now a solid bone ring instead of being broken at two places as it was pre-op. Does my spine hold up in the real world? You bet! I have recently dug and moved several yards of dirt and sand and gravel by myself (shovel and wheelbarrow!) to fix our water main, pulled roots from the yard, moved several "portable" (these are HUGE) air conditioners up several flights of stairs my myself, and lifted weights. I now run 2 miles (3.2 KM) several times weekly with a hard 100 meter dash in the middle. I bend deeply before each run I go on, with no spine slippage. My spine feels amazing. I can bend over to do exercise, or real word tasks, with no risk of spine slippage.

My sincere thanks to God, Dr. Donald Corenman, Lori Fugate, Ehrich Bean, Eric Strauch, and the Steadman Clinic, as well as the Canadian spine surgeon who offered me excellent post-operative care back in Canada. You have all given me a new lease on life.

Sincerely,
Eric S

Robert S

May 11, 2021

by Robert S on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

Back Fusion Surgery

I had my entire lumbar spine fused in November of 2018. I had scoliosis , with pinched nerves that were so painful I could hardly walk - and standing for more than a few minutes was impossible. Even sitting was painful.
The fusion surgery produced immediate relief! And the recovery was much easier than I expected.
To this day I can do all the activities I love from hiking, to standing in a stream fly fishing to riding my bike long distances - or just walking down the street with my wife.
Kudos to Dr. Corenman and his staff, (including the two Erics) for taking such good care of me!

Leslie R

Jul 9, 2020

by Leslie R on Donald Corenman, MD, DC

TLIF

I had my TLIF surgery on 6/24/2020 by Dr. Corenman, I can not say enough good things about the Dr or his staff. I was always treated with respect and explained everything throughly, that made it easy for everyone to understand. I highly recommend Dr. Corenman and the Steadman Clinic.

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