Thoracic spine, not a lot of info....

Hi,
there doesn't seem to be a lot of info when it comes to the thoracic spine and I am hoping someone, anyone can help me decipher what my MRI is saying in plain English. I know no one is a doctor here but I'd like to know if anyone has experienced surgery on the thoracic spine and may have gone thru this. My MRI says;


Anterior cervical fusion is again identified at C4-5 and C5-6 levels. At T6-T7
there is a right paracentral disc protrusion with ventral impression on the
thecal sac. At the T6 level there is dorsal impression on the thoracic cord with
loss of volume of the thoracic cord which is felt to reflect a cystic structure
demonstrating signal characteristics which follow CSF. This may reflect an
intradural extra medullary thoracic arachnoid cyst. A small disc osteophyte
complex is noted at T7-T8 with minimal ventral impression on the thecal sac
without spinal canal stenosis. The remainder of the thoracic spinal canal is
unremarkable. No significant thoracic cord signal abnormalities are identified.
Impression:
1. There is dorsal mass effect on the thoracic cord at the T6 level which
appears to be secondary to an oval cystic structure 2.2 cm in length and 7 mm in
diameter possibly reflective of an intrathoracic intradural extra medullary
arachnoid cyst. There is some loss of volume of the thoracic cord at this level.
Additionally there is a component of ventral impression on the thoracic cord at
the T6-T7 level secondary to a right paracentral disc protrusion.

**From what I have read, there aren't very many doctors that have experience or even do these types of surgeries. I appreciate anything anyone has to offer on this subject.

Thank you in advance.

Hi Sweet, what has the dr told you that ordered this MRI & what is he/she recommending at this time? Did your dr recommend surgery? It is not drs lacking experience being the reason they will not do thoracic surgery, it is because it is a very high risk dangerous surgery. There are not many surgeons out there willing to do thoracic surgery for this reason.

We have had one member that has had thoracic surgery, his user name is SyXx. I cannot remember what his surgery consisted of either. Your can use the search feature here at the forum & read his posts. We do ask that you not post on his older threads as we like to keep the older threads off of the main page. You will get a better response by asking questions here.

A very reputable website devoted to the spine is SpineUniverse.com.. You may want to go there & see if there is info about what is showing on your MRI. Your best bet though is to get your info straight from your dr.

Take care.

I am busy tonight. But feel free to message me any questuins. The surgery is very invasive and painful.

I will respond in more detail later.

I just came back from reading posts from SyXx, that's too funny, ESP or what...LOL

Ok SyXx, I'll check my thread tomorrow for you. In the mean time, How are you doing??? I'm not sure what questions I have. I don't know a lot about the thoracic spine.

I certainly know pain after having a 4 level fusion! My whole lumbar! Plus I had mild scoliosis in there. I'm still in pain and am sick of it. My Ortho surgeon thinks it's coming from my thoracic. I hope not, I seriously don't want to go thru another horrible & awful surgery like I had 10 months ago. I hope the Neuro I'm seeing now has good news for me after he sees the myelogram. I am hoping & praying he says I don't need surgery.

I know I need another surgery on my neck though, the level above my fusion is now pushing on to my spinal cord...Been there done that almost 3 years ago!

Anyway, I'll be back and Thank you soooo much so far.

Hi SyXx,
The Neuro surgeon I am seeing now has reviewed my MRI's and like I said, he's having me do a myelogram.
I don't feel pain in the middle of my back but I do on my upper back, neck, shoulders, my left side at the surgery site, etc. I can imagine the horrible pain you had or still have...Whew :(

Do you know anything about the thoracic causing pain in the lower extremities? Or in my sides? Or butt & legs? Or even the lumbar area? Do you have a thorough understanding of the thoracic spine?
Are you still in horrific pain or are you better now? Your post wasn't that clear to me, I have brain fog.

What is RFA?

My Ortho surgeon that did my back surgery seems to think that my pain is being caused from the thoracic area. When he physically examined me, that's what he said. I don't understand how it's possible. He found some points that hurt pretty bad when he touched me in certain areas is all I can say. Plus he won't touch cysts, not his specialty. So he sent me to the Neuro.& I believe he does cysts, he didn't say but I assumed he does during my visit with him. Of coarse we have to wait for the myelogram results, then I'll know more.

7 hours is very long. My DLIF was a 12 hour surgery and I have no memory of the 4 days after. I spent 2 weeks in the hospital. Ortho said the reason was from anesthetic and pain meds combined & memory loss has happened to some people. That was the worst, painful surgery I've ever had. I can't say that I would do mine again due to having more pain after.

I'm glad your surgery was successful & are happy with the out come. Your surgeon sounds like a really good one!

I live in South Florida.