MRI article

I just read an article in the NY Times about the ability of MRI's to detect damage, which I thought I would share with you all. It talks about the ability of one MRI machine to detect damage when another did not, based on the quality of the scanner, radiologist, etc. I know some of us have had MRI's that don't reveal anything about our pain, despite the fact that something physiological is going on, perhaps this has something to do with it.

Here's the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/health/14scan.html?ref=health

Skeye

Wow thanks Skeye.

That really meant alot to me to read that as I just had 2 neg mri and am still in so much pain that they dont know whats the matter.  I quess in some ways it made me feel a bit vendacated.  As they say mother natures way of saying something is wrong is with pain and should not be ignored no matter what mri reports say.  I will be checking with the 2 hopitals that I had my mri s done to see how old they were and what kinda person was reading mine.  Altho I will say that my ortho did get a copy of the mri scans as well and he didnt see anything on them either.

But at least I know that im not crazy and wondering if the pain is somehow in my head! So thanks

Lara

Very interesting, skeye. Thanks for posting it!

PaLady

And of course the other aspect will be whether our insurance plans will pay for another MRI because the initial one was of poor quality, or on an older machine.

PaLady

I don't think mRI's can tell drs how much pain we suffer. It's a picture. If you've never experienced chronic pain, how on earth can you understand it by looking at a picture? I don't think you can. You can try to, but will end up lacking nevertheless.

I have recently found out that many hospitals are sending scans to India to have them read. They read them and send the results back via computer, or fax, or whatever. How's that one lift your confidence level? I was shocked and not so happy to discover this. INDIA? Are they even qualified????

Stop a minute and think. If the person reading the MRI's is licensed and experienced, it shouldn't matter what country he/she is from. There is actually a major, new, state of the art medical complex recently built in India. I have a friend who recruited nurses to work there. But it's true you have a right to make sure that whoever is reading them is qualified. Would you prefer a generalist from the U.S. reading your MRI, as the article described, as opposed to someone in India who may be a specialist in your specific type of problem?

No, MRI's do not show muscle problems. Neither do X-rays. Usually your best bet to assess those issues is a physical therapist or physiatrist. And you wouldn't want to have MRI's on a regular basis unless absolutely necessary. Remember you get radiation and other "stuff" when you have these tests. And they just show if a problem is worsening, but in many cases if the treatment would be the same regardless there may be no sense in having more MRI's. I had an MRI on my neck in the early 1990's that showed bulging disks back then. I'm sure an MRI now would show worsening as I've aged since then, but since I manage the symtoms and wouldn't want surgery or injections, there's no point to having another MRI even though one of my doctors wanted to do it.

Medicine isn't perfect. We know that, but sometimes it's a hard pill to swallow (no pun intended!).

PaLady

All U.S. hospitals (and I'll bet many in other countries) have accreditation standards to meet. If they were caught having MRI's reaqd by unqualified people, they could be shut down. Not worth the risk. I think you have a right to ask why they might be read in India, but in many cases anymore with technology images are sent off-site to specialists for reading. Even most of our doctors that we see - including the specialists - aren't trained to read radiology images. That's why they read everything from X-rays to mammograms to CAT scans to MRI's. It's a specialty unto itself. And as skeye's article points out, there are subspecialties among radiologists. So if you have concerns I'd ask why it was read in India. If it's because it's cheaper to do it that way, that's one thing, but it may be that the MD in India is actually more qualified. And you're right, many of those doctors have been trained in the U.S. As much as some may not like it (it doesn't bother me), there are other medical centers springing up around the world that can rival some of ours, although many of the doctors probably have received some or all of their training in the U.S.

You also mentioned how can a person read our pain from an image. They may not be able to. Pain is a subjective experience. What images show - and different imaging techniques show different aspects of our body - is whether there is something that can be "seen" which might be causing the pain. That's the only way a doctor might have a shot at treating it. As many of us know, sometimes a precise cause can't be found. Or sometimes multiple causes are found. That doesn't mean we don't have pain. The images should only be one part of the total "picture" the doctors we see in person use to assess our treatment needs.

PaLady

Post Edited (PAlady) : 10/20/2008 12:20:05 PM (GMT-6)