Aa
Aa
A
A
A
Close
1453295 tn?1329617670

Admitting diagnosis myelopathy on MRI?

I was looking at the information for my MRI and it says admitting diagnosis myelopathy. Does that mean the neurologist is just checking for that or is that my actual diagnosis?? And if thats what the diagnosis is, if the MRI came back normal then obviously it would be wrong, right? I don't have any reports or results on the MRI. I don't see the doc till Oct 5th. I just saw the admitting diagnosis said myelopathy and wanted to know what that meant. Well I mean I know what myelopathy itself is but yeah.... My doctor specializes in MS (and Sleep Disorders which is odd) but I mean I don't know if he can actually know I have myelopathy without the MRI but I was just curious.

Any help is appreciated thanks!
Best Answer
147426 tn?1317265632
A doctor can know for sure that a person has myelopathy when there are findings on the exam that are only or primarily caused by lesions in the spinal cord.

Myelopathy = pathology or disease in the spinal cord.

Some of these symptoms could be hyperreflexia, Hug, localized spasticity, urinary urge incontinence or retention, etc.

There is a health page on spinal cord lesions:

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Multiple-Sclerosis/Spinal-Cord-Lesions/show/764?cid=36

Hope this helps.

Quix

7 Responses
Sort by: Helpful Oldest Newest
987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
I think you'll find that the neurologist was investigating myelopathy because thats what he thought was the most likely dx, admitting diagnosis is not a dx but to investigate for a dx of, to rule in or out.

Cheers......JJ
Helpful - 0
645390 tn?1338555377
Unfortunately  I think you will have to wait for your appt to get the results.  It could be they were "looking" for myelopathy, and that was what the doc had to put down to get the MRI done.

I am just assuming, and I am also assuming you had a cervical MRI as well?

I was DX with Cervical Myelopathy after my MRI and went to a neuro surgeon that my neuro referred me too.  I did have surgery for that Jan 09.

Good luck with your appt,
Michelle
Helpful - 0
1453295 tn?1329617670
Yes I had a cervical mri as well. I stopped trying to "analyze" the images lol. Its just the admitting dx that caught my attention. I kind of figured he was more just looking for or trying to rule it out or something. Thanks guys. :-)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
tjs86,
Your discharge summary will tell you  the dx for what the dr was treating you.  Your admitting dx is usually the symptoms and signs that you have presented initially.
Helpful - 0
147426 tn?1317265632
And.....

if the suspicion was really high for myelopathy, then the thoracic spinal cord also needs to be imaged.  The thoracic cord is difficult to image and it is the sight of the fewest lesions, but there is no rationale for omitting it.  You can have thoracic lesions and not have lesions in the cervical cord.

Q
Helpful - 0
1453295 tn?1329617670
Thanks Quix. The doctor did say something about my reflexes. He followed that up with talking about damage or disease to the spinal cord. He didnt order a thoracic mri so my guess is he is maybe just ruling stuff out? Though he is an MS specialist. Did i mention that already? I cant remember. Not that its necessarily relevant but.... I am pretty obese so if the thoracic cord is hard to do maybe he was afraid my weight would compromise it further.
Helpful - 0
Have an Answer?

You are reading content posted in the Multiple Sclerosis Community

Top Neurology Answerers
987762 tn?1671273328
Australia
5265383 tn?1669040108
ON
1756321 tn?1547095325
Queensland, Australia
1780921 tn?1499301793
Queen Creek, AZ
Learn About Top Answerers
Didn't find the answer you were looking for?
Ask a question
Popular Resources
Find out how beta-blocker eye drops show promising results for acute migraine relief.
In this special Missouri Medicine report, doctors examine advances in diagnosis and treatment of this devastating and costly neurodegenerative disease.
Here are 12 simple – and fun! – ways to boost your brainpower.
Discover some of the causes of dizziness and how to treat it.
Discover the common causes of headaches and how to treat headache pain.
Two of the largest studies on Alzheimer’s have yielded new clues about the disease