Here are the results of my brain MRI:
FINDINGS: Study is limited due to motion artifact.
Small punctate T2 high signal changes 5 mm in the deep white matter region right frontal lobe, nonspecific, likely of small vessel ischemic changes. There is no evidence for intraparenchymal hemorrhage, midline shift or mass effect. No evidence for acute ischemia. There is no abnormal enhancing mass. Ventricles, sulci, and cisterns are age-appropriate in size and configuration. Major intracranial flow voids appear intact.
Motion artifact? And I thought I had stayed so still! Damn.
Anyway, everything is good. And for those of you who asked why I was getting a brain MRI, it's part of the routine set of pre-CAR-T workups. I never bothered asking why they needed an MRI in particular, but my guess is that it's related to the possibility of neurologic side effects from the treatment. If this occurs, I suppose they want the MRI as a baseline for comparison.
I was referred for a brain scan when I had hip pain which my dopey GP couldn't explain. God knows why. A competent surgeon finally ordered an X-ray of my hip (about the only thing the GP hadn't done) took one look at it, and booked me in for a hip replacement.
I’ve heard that whenever immunosuppressive therapy is involved, PML should be discussed. That may also be part of the reason for brain MRI.
There were neurological issues for some CAR T patients in the early clinical trials. I think those have been resolved with the commercial treatments.
Motion artifact, stray thought or fleeting memory?
The brain realizing the jig's up and there's nowhere to hide?
My own brain really can't take it anymore and is thinking of starting a website, OnlyNaps.
Sometimes, it isn’t the hardware, but the software it’s running 🙂
Cisterns? Brains have cisterns? Then why am I so thirsty all the time?
I'm not sure that "just fine" and "age appropriate" are the same thing...
As far as I can tell, EVERY MRI report starts with "Study is limited due to motion artifact." It's boilerplate CYA for radiologists.
Had the same experience recently when I had a carotid ultrasound. Radiologist started off with "Some findings may be do to motion artifacts."
Before I had my cardiac ablation, I had to get a special CT where the imaging is synchronized to your heartbeat (since they can't say, "Don't move, hold your breath, and stop your heart for a few seconds"). There's a screen above your face displaying various instructions about when to breathe, etc. I believe the image was used to create a 3D virtual reality sort of thing for use during the actual procedure. (There were more big-screen monitors in the operating theatre than in a sports bar.)
In any case, the results included, "the heart size is normal," "visualized portions of the upper abdominal contents appear unremarkable," and "no convincing evidence of hemodynamically significant stenosis associated with the coronary arteries," so I suppose I passed the test.
Hang in there Kevin. You did great! Wishing you the very best.
Except for the decision to use stock WordPress comments, I never questioned your brain.
Good observation! Also, the failure to keep banning "Eve" and her trollbot buddies.
Clearly the analysis was performed by MRIGPT-2. I’m sure it will be better in the next version.
Kudos to you for one pass though. I would have had to been dosed with something. Not because of claustrophobia but because of hedonism.
had a brain mri a few months back in relation to a severe case of zoster herpes (shingles) on my head. i was happy to find out i still had one ... a brain, that is ...
I had one to rule out an acoustic neuroma and was thrilled to walk away with incontrovertible proof there's something in there.