MRI Question

[Vivian B.]

Hi Everybody,

Quick question. I had my one year MRI in June 2011. The MRI was without contrast. The Neurosurgeon was surprised and he said that it should have been with contrast as he can only see the size but could not determine any tumor death. Neuro. said that for my next one he wants contrast. I received my appt. date for my next MRI which is next June 2012, again with no contrast. I called the MRI clinic, they said it was the call of the radiologist. I explained that Neuro. wants contrast and they said that Neuro. would have to make a specific request. I called the Neuro's office, secretary said she will run it by the Neuro and the Oncologist. It turns out that I will be having an MRI without contrast but in some special machine that can detect all kinds of things and it's more high tech. Secretary was unable to provide anymore details than that. So, the quick question is, does anybody know what this machine is? Just note this machine is in a Canadian Hospital.

Vivian

[mk]

Vivian,

see also my answer to your other thread. They have a new 3 Tesla machine at TWH, (the regular ones run at 1.5 Tesla), I wonder if this is what they were referring to. At the one year mark it would be nice to have the contrast to see if there is necrosis (darkening). But I wouldn't get too worried about the contrast/non-contrast thing from now on, the most important is to monitor the size. Also, note that even if there is darkening it doesn't necessarily mean that the tumor has stopped growing, and vice-versa. In my case there was plenty of darkening at my 6 month and 1 year MRI, but that didn't mean that it was eventually controlled.

Marianna

[Vivian B.]

Hi Marianna,

Good to hear from you. I hope you are doing well. It sounds like that's what the secretary was talking about. I think she just wasn't sure how to explain it. My two year MRI will be next June. We will keep our fingers crossed.

Vivian