Kickas.org Forums Ankylosing Spondylitis General Discussion #1 AS Web Support Group Degenerative Disk Disease

Imaging in Spondyloarthritis - Maksymowych

http://arthritis-research.com/content/11/3/222
This is just one of many. This is the full text version.

http://www.jrheum.com/subscribers/07/02/259.html
Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Spondyloarthritis — Avoiding the Minefield

(A very good paper that illustrates the usefullness of MRI and the pitfalls in imaging. Facinating. OK. A raft of information available, so leaving the rest upto you - before I bore poor ole KA insensible or, more likely, ridgid <LOL> Oh dear, gotta larf, or we'll cry, innit. Take care.)

OMG, what a wealth of information. It will take me a week to check all this out. I guess the Romanus lesions they talk about on my MRI's are separate from the 3 lesions that are on my spinal cord, don't know what they are called, just report "lesions".
Mig, I'm glad you posted that, many younger women need to know the importance of early diagnosis and treatment so they have a chance to get a handle on AS before they end up like those of us with 20, 30, or more years of it.
Cindy

I had an x-ray 10 years ago that showed degenerative disk disease. Now, my latest x-ray was bad enough for my GP to Dx with AS. I don't have a copy of my x-ray reports, I'm just going by what the GP said. My new Rheumy had a bunk of x-rays taken last week so we are waiting to see how that turned out. From what I have read, women can take longer before getting any spinal fusing. We tend to get peripheral inflammation first. Women usually get their Dx later in life. It took 50 years for me from start to now.
Donna

Thanks Mig! It's helpful to read others reports..mine seems to change everytime it's done...On MRI w/o contrast, I have both loss of lumbar lordosis and loss of cervical lordosis otherwise it talks alot about hypertrophy and disc protrusions and foraminal narrowing..but mine started when I was 26, but nothing like yours although I did have generalized osteoporosis in the spine too. I have damage in the entire spine now starting from c2 thru s1. At 32 it was only the lumbar and sacroiliac joints and my sitting bones. I had excruciating pain in my sitting bones forever til I quit my job.


If only the doctors knew as much as you two...lol Thanks again Molly!

Wow Donna! We should be buddies! lol Without the internet I would not have gotten as far as I have..sad to say

According to that one study, xrays are still the best way to view chronic damage and MRI is good at detecting inflammation. So I should be pushing for xrays...thanks Molly! Very helpful!

Susie - best way to check for inflammation is to have a nuclear bone scan. Inflammation shows up like a lit beacon.

MRI Saggital STIR is the best at showing up the rest. X-Rays will show up bone damage but not the finesse of damage. Also, X-Rays can lead to over radiation - have posted here before. Doctors 'now' are all being told to be careful of over exposing patients. (Have sent in quite a number of articles on this very aspect of X-Rays and CT scans.) Also, radiation exposure is accumulative. And just ONE CT scan is equivalent to 120 X-Rays and a High resolution scan is said to be the equivalent to 180 X-Rays - and that one scan is one single high level dose of radiation!

Better by far to go for the MRI Saggital STIR scan. No radiation exposure and much better pictures.

BTW in the main, all the illustrations in the links I sent through earlier are MRI Saggital STIR scans.

Well how do you know what kind of MRI your hospital has, I wonder?

Thanks Molly - no need to worry about boring us rigid - we can do the rigid thing w/o any help! Some here - like Cindy and me regard your contributions as the lazy woman's / PT's way of doing ongoing education!

David P's articles and links are similarly viewed.

There is a young chiro who works in the same practice as me, and he has brought up 2 patients in conversation who sound as if what they have is a SpA of some sort, not a mechanical disorder. He is amazed at my level of understanding of the SpAs - haven't told him why or how (!) - but together we are planning strategies to get their GPs to look past the 'easiest' Dx of wear and tear. One is 25 for goodness sake - a carpenter, so the GP says "that's why you have a bad back" but he is fine during the day, and wakes at 4 am with pain and stiffness and struggles for 2 hours to 'get going' in the mornings - yep - that sounds mechanical to me - NOT!!!

If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, why do the quacks say it has to be a chicken, just cos there are a lot more of 'em wandering around?!?!? Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!

Quackers! HaHaHA - good larf Louise. And true. Hope you and your cheiro can help the poor fella. GGGgrrrrrrrrrrrr. Plain as the nose on the end of one's face that it needs to be approached from another angle. Makes one so angry! (Can you stuff an article into his hand: 'Do read this, it is most interesting' sort of thing?)

Feel honoured to be classed with David P, he has original thoughts, I dig for other people's learning and thoughts on the matter: difference. (I always make a point of reading David's posts as well.) But so glad I don't bore the pants off ya. Sometimes I think I might get a bit over enthusiastic - that has 'always' been a bit problem for me, too much 'enthusiasm'! Oh well, sign of an Aries I do believe... Thanks Louise