MRI with contrast

Posted by amywood20 @amywood20, Oct 15, 2019

On average, how often do MRIs with contrast miss things? I had one done on my left shoulder and it just showed a low grade partial tear of the infraspinatus. No other tears or anything noteworthy. Issues are in the left upper back near shoulder blade and occasionally weird feeling near the armpit/pec area, along with hand tingles. Also get some hand tingles in the other hand but not as bad or frequent. I have a C5-C6 disc issue, which that area of the c-spine innervates the infraspinatus, making this all so confusing. I see a spine doc on the 4th. I did send my shoulder MRI with contrast to Mayo to have them read it in case something was missed by the local radiologist. They should receive it tomorrow. But...I am wondering if a second MRI with contrast should be done at a different imaging facility than the original one in case the machine missed something. I am hoping this issue is not a shoulder problem, as I already have a full thickness tear in the other shoulder that needs fixed after the holidays. The way the left shoulder feels is nothing like that one. The discomfort near the shoulder blade and weirdness is much worse. Aches when lying on my back but that's the only way I can really sleep. Shoulder doc isn't convinced it's a shoulder issue, same with the physical therapists. They suspect neck. I can't help get that idea out of my head though since that used to be my bad shoulder. I was shocked when the other one showed a full thickness tear. I would never have guessed it. When I was at Mayo for my PKD/PLD the first of the month I was able to see someone in the physical rehabilitation department. She looked at my cervical spine MRI and did in office tests. She could not pin point the issue either. She suggested I have an EMG and then additional possible other steps would be a cortisone injection into the shoulder (had that done once back home and it did not help), trigger point injection, etc. I imagine the spine doc I see soon will want the EMG as well. For the hand tingles. the Mayo doc said it could be a separate issue, possibly carpal tunnel. The area of tingle does not really follow that though. Anyway, long way to bring it back to my original question...should I find comfort in the shoulder MRI with contrast I had done or, if the spine doc can't find a correlation to my C5-C6 issue and the shoulder, do I ask for a new shoulder MRI with contrast but at a different facility? Thanks for letting my share my exhaustive story. The unknown and waiting to see the spine doc (2 ½ months) is draining and causing anxiety.

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@parrotqueen

It has happened to me twice where I was either not diagnosed or misdiagnosed because of an MRI. First was a broken hip. Fractures did not show up on MRI for ten months! (I had fallen down a flight of stairs and landed on a concrete driveway.). Last year I had a broken wrist that went undiagnosed for six months - finally they told me I had cancer. It wasn't cancer at all. It was a broken wrist. Once again, an MRI of my arm did not reveal a broken wrist and I went untreated until I tried to get a biopsy for the "cancer." So MRIs do not always catch things.

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@parrotqueen that must have been incredibly frustrating. 🙁

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@bernese53

Yes...it is a journey but the Mayo Clinic is a good place to go. I am six months out from cervical spine surgery done at Mayo. I am so glad I had the surgery done. By way of background: I am 66 years old, overweight, diabetic, and I have asthma. I came through the surgery just fine.

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@bernese53 Mayo is amazing. My husband is in the process of retiring from the military and has said he wants to go work there (in a non-medical capacity since he does not have a background in that). We live in KS and I don't want to move so that's not going to happen. But, that shows how blown away he was while we were there for my PKD/PLD. If the specialists here cannot figure things out I will definitely consider going back to Mayo for their help. Will be interesting to see what their radiologists note in the MRA I sent them. If the spine specialist where I live does further testing like an EMG/nerve conduction test and it doesn't determine anything then I am going to push for another shoulder MRA done at a different facility. I do suspect this is cervical spine related though.

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Best of luck to you. Hope you can find a solution for your shoulder pain. Keep us posted.

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@bernese53

Best of luck to you. Hope you can find a solution for your shoulder pain. Keep us posted.

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@bernese53 sorry for yet another question...before you had your cervical spine surgery and was having shoulder blade pain, did it seem like it was affecting the function of the shoulder some in how it moved, etc? I don't mean it slipping out of place or anything, just that things didn't feel right with the function of it.

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It did not feel as though it were slipping out of place...just felt as though it did not move as smoothly as it should.

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@bernese53

It did not feel as though it were slipping out of place...just felt as though it did not move as smoothly as it should.

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@bernese53 yeah that is how mine feels at times. I just wish I knew for certain where the issue is coming from. I hate uncertainty and waiting to get in with the spine doc. I did mail my MRA of the left shoulder to Mayo to have their radiologists look at it in case the one locally missed something. Should have their interpretation sometime next week I think. I probably didn't need to do that and should just be patient and wait for the spine doc appointment and go through whatever testing he wants done. But, I have met my out of pocket for the year so insurance will cover Mayo looking at it so I figured why not.

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I know the uncertainty is hard. When will you beat Mayo?

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@bernese53

I know the uncertainty is hard. When will you beat Mayo?

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@bernese53 i will be there on Nov 1st but that’s for a liver procedure to help with my polycystic liver (and kidney) disease. Draining a cyst or two and filling with foam to then collapse it. Flying in the day before and flying out the day after. I imagine if I could stay a few weeks Mayo could figure out my issues. But, lodging would be so expensive to do so. Hoping the specialists here can figure it out.

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