Find areas of the spine that do not have good blood supply.Check areas of joint inflammation ( arthritis) or bone loss found during an X-ray test or a bone scan.Find compression fractures of the spine.The tumours that most commonly spread to the spine include those from prostate, breast, or lung cancer. Find tumours affecting the bones or nerves of the spine.Find areas of the spine where the canal is abnormally narrowed ( spinal stenosis) and may need surgery.The test may also show if a disc is pressing on a nerve, causing symptoms such as sciatica. Find problems of the spinal discs, such as a ruptured disc.The pictures from an open MRI may not be as good as those from a standard MRI machine. But open MRI machines aren't available everywhere. You may be able to have an MRI with an open machine that doesn't enclose your entire body. MRI may be used to check low back problems. More detailed pictures of one area, such as the lumbar spine, may be taken.
HOW TO READ MRI IMAGES OF LUMBAR SPINE SERIES
The entire spine can be seen in one series of pictures to find a tumour. MRI can look at the spine in the neck (cervical), upper back (thoracic), or lower back (lumbosacral). It also can find problems such as infection or a tumour. The MRI can find changes in the spine and in other tissues. In some cases, a contrast material may be used during the MRI to show certain parts of the body more clearly. Pictures from an MRI can be saved and stored on a computer for further study. An MRI also may show problems that cannot be seen with other imaging tests.įor an MRI, your body is placed inside a machine that contains a strong magnet.
In many cases, an MRI gives different information than an X-ray, an ultrasound, or a CT scan. You'll be able to see this on a spinal MRI - there will be a long line of "normal" vertebrae and discs, with one noticeably bulging out.An MRI is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy to make pictures of the spine. When you get a herniated disc, one of these discs breaks and the fluid leaks out, causing pain as it presses against the nerves in your spine. Between every two vertebrae is a fluid-filled disc. X Trustworthy Source Mayo Clinic Educational website from one of the world's leading hospitals Go to source The spine is made up of many different bone vertebrae stacked on top of each other.
HOW TO READ MRI IMAGES OF LUMBAR SPINE PATCH
If, in your MRI, you notice a patch of lightness or darkness on one side of your body that does not match what's on the other side, this can be cause for concern. By and large, the body is very symmetrical. Here, you're basically viewing thin slices of your body from the top down - as if you've been cut into many thin horizontal slices from your head to your toes like a salami.
The three main ways MRIs are displayed are: X Research source Knowing how MRIs are shot can help you make sense of your images. However, in many cases, the image you see may be a completely unintelligible mix of black, white, and grey. When your MRI first loads up, if you're lucky, it will be immediately obvious what you're looking at. Familiarize yourself with the different MRI viewing schemes.