Neck MRI

Tagged: NECK

Viewing 6 posts - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

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angie101
Participant

October 30, 2019 at 1:15 pm

Post count: 3

#31378

Hoping you can help me.
Details
Study Result

FINAL REPORT –9/18/2019 11:56 AM

MRI CERVICAL SPINE

History: 54 years Female M54.2, CERVICALGIA; NECK PAIN;

Reference
None available.

Technique
Routine nonenhanced cervical spine MRI.

Findings:

Multilevel degenerative disc disease is apparent with slight reversal the normal lordosis with slight retrolisthesis of C6 on C7 evident. Disc desiccation disc space height loss along with degenerative marrow signal intensities are apparent. No suspicious marrow signal intensity seen.

C2-3
Dorsal disc osteophyte complex is seen broadly and slightly irregular in its appearance with resultant mild ventral dural sac effacement with uncovertebral joint hypertrophy also present left greater than right and resulting in severe left and moderate right foraminal narrowing.

C3-4
Irregular dorsal disc osteophyte complex is present eccentric to the left with left-sided uncovertebral hypertrophy again present. Again this results in severe left and moderate severe right foraminal narrowing. There is ventral dural sac effacement seen.

C4-5
There is a irregular broad-based dorsal disc osteophyte complex and uncovertebral hypertrophy identified. Artifact is limiting as well. There is a probable at least moderate if not moderate to severe foraminal narrowing bilaterally with mild ventral dural sac effacement

C5-6
Irregular dorsal disc osteophyte complex is present with probable significant foraminal stenosis given the uncovertebral hypertrophy also present. There is ventral dural sac effacement seen. AP canal diameter 9 mm

C6-7
Dorsal disc osteophyte complex is present with probable moderate to severe bilateral foraminal narrowing. Ventral dural sac effacement is identified. AP canal diameter 8 mm

C7-T1
No spinal canal or foraminal compromise

Impression
Degenerative disc disease which is advanced and in the multilevel distribution as discussed above

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 9, 2019 at 9:23 am

Post count: 8660

#31423

No MRI is adequate by itself. I need to know your symptoms. Please see this thread to describe your symptoms.https://neckandback.com/conditions/how-to-describe-your-history-and-symptoms-of-neck-shoulder-and-arm-pain/

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.

angie101
Participant

November 11, 2019 at 10:47 am

Post count: 3

#31443

My arms feel like they’ve been punched over and over, it feels like my rotator cups are bad, even though I was told they are not, I have trouble walking, if I stand too long I have this severe burning sensation up through my middle back, and some nerve in my right leg makes it hard to get up from a sitting position, and my fingers hurt on and off, I cannot push anything or pull anything. Thank you so much for your help!

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 17, 2019 at 10:16 am

Post count: 8660

#31483

Your symptoms are not specific enough for me to tie in with your cervical MRI report. What fingers hurt and when do they hurt? With neck motion? With what actions? Where do the symptoms radiate?

Why do you have trouble walking. Explain. Why do you have trouble getting up from a sitting position. What is the pain, what side and describe your pain.

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.

angie101
Participant

November 21, 2019 at 11:43 am

Post count: 3

#31514

I have numbness and tingling in my hand and fingers (mainly on my left hand), they feel weak, say for instance when I peel an orange to use the tips of my fingers, or open a jar it is very painful. If I turn my neck a certain way I can feel something grab on something in my neck, which sends shooting pain down my arms and down into between my shoulder blades. The pain is in my upper legs on my top thighs and around the hip area…when I get up its hard to straighten up and takes a minute, but by the time that happens, then I have the horrible burning sensations up the middle of my back. I have headaches very often! I often lay down on sides to relieve pressure on my spine. Its so hard to describe and i’m sorry.

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

November 23, 2019 at 9:51 am

Post count: 8660

#31520

Your lumbar spine symptoms are more likely originating from some disorder in your lower back.

Your neck symptoms could be from compression of nerve roots in your neck. Your hand symptoms could be from the neck or from peripheral nerve compression in your hands or elbow (cubital or carpel tunnel syndrome).

Your neck pain and shooting pains into your shoulders is most likely from nerve compression in your neck. “C4-5. There is a probable at least moderate if not moderate to severe foraminal narrowing bilaterally with mild ventral dural sac effacement…C5-6 Irregular dorsal disc osteophyte complex is present with probable significant foraminal stenosis…C6-7 Dorsal disc osteophyte complex is present with probable moderate to severe bilateral foraminal narrowing”.

ou have three levels of nerve root compression any or all of which could cause your neck, shoulder and arm symptoms.

See
https://neckandback.com/conditions/carpal-tunnel-syndrome/”
https://neckandback.com/conditions/cubital-tunnel-syndrome/
https://neckandback.com/conditions/radiculopathy-pinched-nerve-in-neck/
and https://neckandback.com/conditions/symptoms-of-cervical-nerve-injuries/

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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