Health Care > C5/6 A broad based disc protusion with vertebral endplate osteophytes?Related Photo
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results in moderate central spinal canal stenosis (8mm AP diameter of the tecal sac) and moderately severe right and moderate left foraminal steosis..
C7-T1 A small broad-based disc protusion is present with vertebral endplate osteophytes most prominent in teh left foraminal zone, resulting in mild left foraminal stenosis. Bilateral forminal perineural cysts/nerve root sheath deverticula are incidentally noted at c6-c7 and c7/t1 levels.
are any of these to worry about?
MRI findings alone should not be a reason for any surgeon to operate on your spine. Many people have similar changes of their spine as they age. The key would be whether you have any symptoms that would likely be caused by these abnormalities on your scan. If neck pain is the symptom that led to you having an MRI, surgery is unlikely to have much of an effect on your neck pain. If you're having trouble with weakness in your hands, shooting pains down your arms, difficulty walking, or difficulty controlling your bowel or bladder function, then surgery would be more likely to help, or at least prevent progression of symptoms. Also, without reviewing the images of the scans, it's impossible to say how bad these changes you have really are. What is "moderate" stenosis, exactly? How was the 8mm measurement obtained? (Several studies have shown that these kinds of measurements are very inconsistent and do not correlate well with severity of symptoms or likelihood for improvement after surgery.) No one's going to be able to determine those kinds of things over the internet. But, the most important thing to determine is what symptoms if any you have and whether or not they can be explained by the changes identified on your scan.
You should have the ability to follow-up with the physician who ordered your scan in the first place, and you and your doctor can decide what an appropriate next step is based on your specific situation.
