Quote:
Originally Posted by mmglobal
With all the "I'm not a doctor" qualifiers, it looks somewhat stenotic, like there is not much room around the cauda equina (what seems like the spinal cord in your lumbar spine). Note that these types of issues can be comnpletely asymnptomatic in a high percentage of patients. The symptoms you described don't sound like typical L4-5 problems.
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You guys really need some people on here that do this stuff for a living (reading these studies). Having said that, your single MRI image you submitted does not show any serious pathology. There is certainly no spinal stenosis, perhaps a slight disc bulge, and mild bilateral facet joint degeneration; nothing out of the ordinary for anyone over 35 years of age. There is certainly nothing there that explains your symptoms.
Fluid on T1 weighted sequences is dark. It is perfectly normal for there to be fluid along the beginning (proximal) parts of nerve root sleeves.
While the orthopedic surgeon's recommendation is fine in this case, I certainly hope that he was not the primary interpreter of the film. That's like having someone that trained in general surgery perform a back surgery... That's what the field of Neuroradiology is for.. image interpretation with a specialization in neurological problems (head and spine).