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What Does My MRI Scan Report Indicate?

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Posted on Thu, 13 Apr 2017
Question: Hi Dr Rynne,
I have had an MRI and the results show a hemangiomaon the C6 vertical body.
What are your thoughts on this?
Can is be caused from constant lifting?
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dariush Saghafi (3 hours later)
Brief Answer:
This is a congenital finding and is not clinically significant

Detailed Answer:
Good morning. I am not Dr. Rynne, however, your question was placed in the general pool of PREMIUM QUESTIONS to be answered because in order for Dr. Rynne to be specifically TARGETED for a question you need to place the question on HIS Healthcaremagic URL site. I do not know what that is exactly but you can either look it up by querying his name on the list of providers when you first come on the site or ask technical support to walk you through the process. My habit is to typically tell patients at the end of my consult note how they can get back in touch with me if they have further questions or if they would like to communicate with me specifically in the future.

However, I am happy to answer your question as a neurology expert and one who sees these types of findings all the time in my own patients.

A hemangioma simply refers to a collection or "tuft" if you will, of small blood vessels of an arteriolar nature. An arteriole is a very very small artery. These are seen on the skin often as "cherry" spots and can also be found INTERNALLY to the body within organs, tissues, and EVEN BONY structures such as vertebral bodies. They are seen by the radiologist as an area that "lights up" on certain sequeces of scans obtained looking at brain or whatever other organ they are examining.

In your case, one was found within the vertebral body of the cervical spine and more specifically at the level of C6 which is just level up from the nape of your neck. If you touch the back of your neck with your neck flexed forward (chin to the chest) you will feel a bony prominence. That is thek C7 vertebral body. C6 is one level up from that....difficult to palpate unless your neck is extremely thin. That is where this entity is and it is probably very small as most are.

They are believe to be congenital formations meaning you were either born with it or acquired it very shortly after birth. They are considered benign. They do not tend to grow, bleed, or complicate in any way. They do not cause pain, obstructions, or difficulty to movement. They are simply incidental findings on scans that radiologists will call out all the time but are usually ignored by clinicians because they do not help with diagnoses or treatment plans.

So the specific answer to your question would be:

No, it is not something that comes about as a result of lifting or any other activity. It is merely something that radiologists read for completeness sake.

Cheers!

I hope that I've provided useful and helpful information to your question, despite being someone other than Dr. Rynne, and if you agree could you do me a huge favor by CLOSING THE QUERY and be sure to include some fine words of feedback along with a 5 STAR rating? Again, many thanks for submitting your inquiry and please let me know how things turn out.

Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others.

This query has utilized a total of 15 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
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Follow up: Dr. Dariush Saghafi (11 hours later)
Hi Dr Saghafi,
Thank you for your detailed response.
You mentioned they do not cause pain, yet I have been experiencing a great deal of pain, both at the back of my neck and down my arms.
I have researched this after submitting my question to you and found that a lot of other people have similar symptoms as I do.
Some of these conditions were from C6, C7, T2, T3, T4 and T10.
Why then are we going through this pain?

Your feedback is appreciated,
Thank you, XXXXXXX
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dariush Saghafi (4 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Vertebral body hemangiomas believed to be painless

Detailed Answer:
Thank you for your return question.

As I mentioned before osseous hemangiomas (i.e. hemangiomas contained within a bony structure) are not believed to cause pain because they neither compress nor stimulate nerve endings. They are fully "land locked" as it were within the boundaries of the bone. The exception to the PAINLESS hemangiomas are the one that are SO LARGE that they cause collapse or breakdown of the vertebral body. If yours would've been of that size or caliber it would've been noted as such on the radiology report. The radiologist would've made much more out of the entity than you reported. Therefore, my guess is that it is either small...or a little bigger than small.....but certainly not either the size of the vertebral body itself or so large and dense that the substance of the bone is actually compromised causing instability in the structure of the skeleton. As I said, you would be having more likely than not much different symptomatology and the radiologist would've clearly made something of a big deal of it on the report.

Here is a website link to a credible article on the subject. I would not put too much stock in blog sites where people talk about their pain.....OR doctors themselves may even come up with opinions that contradict the specialty experts. Take a look at information on this topic right from the HORSE'S MOUTH.

https://yyyyyyyyyyyyyy.org/articles/vertebral-haemangioma


I hope that I've provided useful and helpful information to your question. Again, many thanks for submitting your inquiry and please let me know how things turn out.

This query has utilized a total of 32 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.

There are many reasons why people can have pain in their necks having to do with strained muscles, ligaments, tendons, bruises to soft tissues, arthritis and degenerative changes in facet joints, dessicated discs between vertebral bodies, osteophytes, calcification depositions. Simply having a pain in the neck is not a specific enough symptom to conclude that the hemangioma is the sole cause...especially when we have no anatomic evidence that such lesions are actually pain inducing.



Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Dariush Saghafi

Neurologist

Practicing since :1988

Answered : 2473 Questions

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What Does My MRI Scan Report Indicate?

Brief Answer: This is a congenital finding and is not clinically significant Detailed Answer: Good morning. I am not Dr. Rynne, however, your question was placed in the general pool of PREMIUM QUESTIONS to be answered because in order for Dr. Rynne to be specifically TARGETED for a question you need to place the question on HIS Healthcaremagic URL site. I do not know what that is exactly but you can either look it up by querying his name on the list of providers when you first come on the site or ask technical support to walk you through the process. My habit is to typically tell patients at the end of my consult note how they can get back in touch with me if they have further questions or if they would like to communicate with me specifically in the future. However, I am happy to answer your question as a neurology expert and one who sees these types of findings all the time in my own patients. A hemangioma simply refers to a collection or "tuft" if you will, of small blood vessels of an arteriolar nature. An arteriole is a very very small artery. These are seen on the skin often as "cherry" spots and can also be found INTERNALLY to the body within organs, tissues, and EVEN BONY structures such as vertebral bodies. They are seen by the radiologist as an area that "lights up" on certain sequeces of scans obtained looking at brain or whatever other organ they are examining. In your case, one was found within the vertebral body of the cervical spine and more specifically at the level of C6 which is just level up from the nape of your neck. If you touch the back of your neck with your neck flexed forward (chin to the chest) you will feel a bony prominence. That is thek C7 vertebral body. C6 is one level up from that....difficult to palpate unless your neck is extremely thin. That is where this entity is and it is probably very small as most are. They are believe to be congenital formations meaning you were either born with it or acquired it very shortly after birth. They are considered benign. They do not tend to grow, bleed, or complicate in any way. They do not cause pain, obstructions, or difficulty to movement. They are simply incidental findings on scans that radiologists will call out all the time but are usually ignored by clinicians because they do not help with diagnoses or treatment plans. So the specific answer to your question would be: No, it is not something that comes about as a result of lifting or any other activity. It is merely something that radiologists read for completeness sake. Cheers! I hope that I've provided useful and helpful information to your question, despite being someone other than Dr. Rynne, and if you agree could you do me a huge favor by CLOSING THE QUERY and be sure to include some fine words of feedback along with a 5 STAR rating? Again, many thanks for submitting your inquiry and please let me know how things turn out. Do not forget to contact me in the future at: www.bit.ly/drdariushsaghafi for additional questions, comments, or concerns having to do with this topic or others. This query has utilized a total of 15 minutes of professional time in research, review, and synthesis for the purpose of formulating a return statement.