Poor MRI Images

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

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spambrando
Participant

June 5, 2015 at 2:12 pm

Post count: 3

#19907

Hi,

I’ve had both lumbar and cervical spine MRIs done. What I’d like to know is, why are these images so much better than my own on the CD they gave me? My images look like old X-rays, without the clarity I see here. Thanks!

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 6, 2015 at 8:58 am

Post count: 8660

#19916

Since almost all films today are digital, the CD should contain the exact images that you war shown (hopefully) in your doctors office. Your physician might have better monitors so the images look better but the images are from the same source as you have. It is a possibility that you were not given all the images as I’ve seen that happen before.

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.

spambrando
Participant

June 6, 2015 at 1:11 pm

Post count: 3

#19918

Hello,

Thanks so much for responding so quickly. With the (scary) and sometimes indifferent) treatment I’ve been receiving for some time, I do not trust my PCP or the two before him. Three in a year. My chiropractor, I trust implicitly. I discovered that the PCPs only made their decisions on the readout provided to them by whomever read the images at the hospital. They NEVER saw the images themselves! I am holding a CD copy here in my hand. I have now educated myself in a 24 hour period of time to the best of my abilities on what to look for and I have a good idea of what’s up. Not a horrible case but it does show damage. I attached a couple of saved .jpg images I took but I can’t be completely sure it shows all. I also hope my pink marker isn’t in the way!

My chiropractor is quite awesome. He’s also at the University of Bridgeport and is about the only soul keeping me from becoming a cripple.
Getting back to the disc, it is in no way, shape or form as good as the images I see on your site or others. Seems too grainy to me in comparison. BUT – that MAY be because the pics are enlarged when clicked on, from the desk on my PC. I build and know computers so, I’m aware of quality differences.
In any case, thanks for responding. After making my own judgement call, on what the disc says, I’ll be VERY interested in 1) what Peter says on Monday and then, 2) with squinty eyes, what the PCP says on Tuesday. I can almost bet my Dire Straits music collection they will be two different calls.
Thanks for reading. I’ll let you know if it becomes a circus, lol.

Many Regards,
Cindy

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 7, 2015 at 7:46 am

Post count: 8660

#19926

Sorry but I had to delete your personal references as this is an anonymous site.

Looking at two selected images will not be diagnostic as information is missing. You have CNS or “crappy neck syndrome”. Multiple discs are degenerative. You have what appears to be cervical central stenosis at C4-5 or C5-6. You definitely have cervical foraminal stenosis (see website) at the cross sectional level (unidentified level) you added.

This means you could have neck pain from cervical degenerative disc disease, shoulder and arm pain from foraminal stenosis and/or myelopathy from central stenosis.

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.

spambrando
Participant

June 7, 2015 at 10:18 am

Post count: 3

#19928

Thanks again for such a quick response and extremely accurate verification (and beyond) of what I saw. When reaching for something, especially lower than waist level, pain shoots from my neck, down and around tricep, bicep, elbow, forearm, all the way to my fingers in my left arm and hand but there’s numbness in both, especially when laying down to sleep at night.
I’m sure I’ll get a more complete report from my chiropractor but not completely sure about my PCP at this point. However, in your opinion, based ONLY on what you’ve seen, would surgery be a good or bad option? I’ve been through the gamut of physical therapy which only seemed to exacerbate the problems. Leery of more surgeries as all previous ones left me with permanent pain in other areas.
Once again, thank you for your time and expertise. You are a huge asset to your profession.

Regards,
C

Donald Corenman, MD, DC
Moderator

June 8, 2015 at 6:07 am

Post count: 8660

#19932

Surgery decisions are made based upon an extensive history, a complete physical examination, review of all images and other tests and then finally a frank discussion with the patient about the benefits and risks. I cannot tell you if you are a surgical candidate with the limited information that has been provided.

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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