MRI findings by age

[lobelsteve]

Im always looking for this article.

http://www.ajnr.org/content/ajnr/36/4/811.full.pdf

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[callmeanesthesia]

Thanks!! I’ve been meaning to look this up and print out that table so I can hand it out to patients when they tell me their back pain is because they were diagnosed with degenerative disc disease...
Going to give it to everyone I order an MRI on too.

 

[deleted993114]

Thanks!! I’ve been meaning to look this up and print out that table so I can hand it out to patients when they tell me their back pain is because they were diagnosed with degenerative disc disease...
Going to give it to everyone I order an MRI on too.

I occasionally show them my MRI to give them a perspective on what a bad scan looks like. I have no back pain, however, as I do my core exercises and remain active.

 

[epidural man]

Im always looking for this article.

http://www.ajnr.org/content/ajnr/36/4/811.full.pdf

This is great! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Ducttape]

get your radiology department to post the results after their reports. one of the local offices does that routinely.

it is more extra bytes in the files, but it is great to show patients that their disc bulge is present in 70 % of asymptomatic patients in their age group, for example....

 

[lobelsteve]

get your radiology department to post the results after their reports. one of the local offices does that routinely.

it is more extra bytes in the files, but it is great to show patients that their disc bulge is present in 70 % of asymptomatic patients in their age group, for example....

Wrh?

How does the local radiology dept know if something is asymptotic? Kinda like when they advertise kypho for fx or esi for hnp?

 

[Ducttape]

it is a generic statement for the PCPs, who used to oftentimes call me and ask about findings that they were horrified by.

disc bulges in 40 year olds need immediate interventional spine injection and then surgery; "spondylosis" that sounded horrific.

when I get the chance, ill copy and paste what a typical report says.

 

[DOctorJay]

my patients like to tell me their spine is "disintegrating" after their report was read as degenerative disc disease. I tell them it's gray hair of the spine.

 

[Ducttape]

here it is.

The following findings are so common in an asymptomatic patient that they must be interpreted with caution and in the context of a clinical situation.

Among patients in their 50?s who are asymptomatic, an MRI will find about:

80% have disc degeneration
73% have disc signal loss
56% have disc height loss
60% have a disc bulge
36% have a disc protrusion
23% have an annular fissure/tear
32% have facet degeneration
14% have spondylolisthesis

Reference: Brinjikji, W. Luetmer, P.H., Comstock B., Bresnahan B.W., Chen L.E., Deyo R.A., Halabi,S., Turner J.A., Avins A.L., James K., Wald J.T., Kallmes D.F., AJNR 2015 April; 36(4): 811-816.
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[thecentral09]

Fantastic analogy. I will use it tomorrow

 

[Jitter Bug]

We actually have a summary of this on a laminated card in our exam rooms for educational purposes...

 

[truthseeker]

We do too. I tried to find a link to the V.O.M.I.T poster but couldn't seem to at the moment.
Similar findings in all body parts (neck, t spine, knee, hip, shoulder) powerful tool to attack catastrophization. I wish all orthos and fps would consider that when they tell someone that they have a bulging disk or "partially tore some ligaments in their ankle" when its a grade I sprain.