This is my MRI radiology report after three months of Solu-Medrol to see if lesion load was decreased.  Finally a good MRI.  ;-)  My comments are in red italics.  Some of the personal header information has been removed (chart #, doctor, etc.) but the report is intact.  I used GOCR/JOCR this time instead of OmniPage PRO and was very impressed - the open source crowd definitely has some good stuff (since I did this at home I didn't have a choice because I don't have OmniPage Pro though I could have waited until tomorrow to use work's copy but I wanted to try out GOCR).   I caught some errors which I think I corrected but a lot of these terms are foreign to me so there may be quite a few misspellings.  :-)  Enjoy.  The contrast is Gadolinium (gadopentetate dimeglumine).

Side note:  I obviously have a different radiologist reading each time because their writing styles are so different.

Also the cervical spine scan was not repeated from the first MRI.  While there have certainly been new lesions in my spine (based on symptoms I've had) the contrast is ineffective in the spine so it would not yield that interesting of results.  The important thing at this point is to look at the brain.

You probably came here from my Blog but if not you will probably also be very interested in it: http://blog.thesmithlife.com

MRI of the Brain with Contrast

PATIENT: SMITH, ERIK
DATE: 08/11/2004

MRI OF THE BRAIN WITHOUT AND WITH CONTRAST

CLINICAL HISTORY: Multiple sclerosis. Foot numbness.  (I guess I should have mentioned the tremors too but oh well)

TECHNIQUE: Image sequences obtained include: Sagittal T1. Axial T2. Axial FLAIR. Axial T1.  Diffusion-weighted. Postcontrast axial T1.

COMPARISON: Prior MRI brain dated 5-20-04.

FINDINGS: As seen previously, there are a number of foci of increased T2 signal in the cerebral white matter bilaterally.  These appear slightly less prominent on the current study than on the preceding one. There also appears to be some interval resolution with respect to some of the lesions. Specifically, the right cerebellar lesion noted previously is no longer clearly visualized. A high left parietal lesion seen on image 65 of the prior study is not clearly identified on this examination. Several of the periventricular lesions appear to be less conspicious than on the prior study. There is no enhancement within any of these areas or elsewhere in the brain parenchyma to suggest current activity. There is no recent infarct. There is no mass. There is no extra-axial collection, midline shift or hydrocephalus.  Vascular flow voids are preserved.  The orbital apices, cavernous sinuses and suprasellar regions are unremarkable.  The internal auditory canals and cerebellopontine angles
appear normal. The mastoids and middle ear cavities are normal. The paranasal sinuses are unimpressive.

IMPRESSION:
  1. Multiple sclerosis.
  2. In the interval since the prior study, there has been an improvement and/or regression with respect to several lesions, as discussed. The right cerebellar lesion ìs no longer clearly identified. A high left parietal lesion is not clearly identified.  Several of the periventricular lesions are less conspicuous on the cuRent study than on the preceding one of May 2004.
  3. There is no recent infarct or hemorrhage.
  4. There is no midline shift.
  5. There is no hydrocephalus.

© Erik Smith 2004