Mri what can it show up ?

[fosterschick]

can mri show even small amounts of inflammation ?

Hi all my new gi ( fab woman needs a medal ! ) Has been ummimg and ahhhing on whether I have some bowel disease or not , I have anal skin tags , usual crohn's symptoms , raised calprotecting , and some imflammtion in scope but biopsys negative , she mentioned trialing a drug but nhs likes things justified I think , she is sending me for an mri ,wat can this show up ? Thanks for readin x

oops ment to add i have posted this in the tests bit too

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Hi Fosterschick, I didn't want your post to go without any answers - did you get the info you were looking for from your other post? My general understanding of MRI versus CT scan is that CT gets a good "overall" picture of things and can see dense tissue like bone better, whereas MRI gets a better specific picture of one thing and sees soft tissue like organs better. That's how my doc explained it to me anyway. Are they specifically looking at your intestines in the MRI?

 

[dannysmom]

I think there is a lot of value in an MRI. My son had an abdominal MRI (drank contrast so really an MRE). They can show thickening of the intestine walls, which is a sign of inflammation. They can show enlarged lymph nodes and obstruction ... really lots of things. I like that it can also rule out many other issues too. My son's MRE did not help provide a dx (possible mild wall thickening (radiologists disagreed) and multiple enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes (not uncommon for children)) ... but it did help calm the nerves that something bad was being missed (ie tumors).

 

[Niks]

I'm not sure of the difference, MRE is what they are talking about for my daughter, I just think anything that may give you some answers is worth trying! At least this test is not invasive and not uncomfortable!

Good luck

 

[dannysmom]

You should really find out if you are just getting a plain abdominal MRI or getting an MRE where oral contrast is required. My son's GI said MRI ... I aksed him about the oral contrast and he was not sure since MREs are a bit new. So I asked the radiology dept office staff and they said no oral contrast. I was disappointed, but like Niks said, I was happy to be getting any imagine. Well when we showed up, turned out he didneed to drink the oral contrast because he was getting an MRE after all. HE should have been instructed to fast at least 4 hours prior to the test so the contrast could get through his system timely. We were there for something like 8 hours! ... 8PM to 4AM! (torturous for my son to drink 3 large containers of thick contrast after eating dinner. I wrote a letter to my GI so he'd know next time.)

 

[fosterschick]

thanks all , I'm not sure but i will check , my GI has sorted this after re looking at my small and large bowel enemas they were done a year ago , i just wondered why she wasn't re doing them , or if perhaps a MRI could confirm a suspicion in the original x rays ?? x

 

[dannysmom]

Why not ask your doctor why? But I think the MRI can be much more accurate than the X-rays ... (I'd be suspcious too. My son's xrays just did not see his TI do to multiple loops.)

 

[fosterschick]

thanks dannysmom , i would like to ask her but the nxt time i see her will b wen i get my results its just how it works in nhs xx im sure she doing the rite fing i have a lot of faith in her x

 

[kiny]

It can show everything you want in reality, high tesla MRI can show individual molecules. I think really if an MRI is helpful depends for a great part on the time one wants to spend researching the pictures and the knowledge of the people taking and looking over the data.

For example, if wall thickening is inflammation or fibrotic tissue or both or something else, will not be immediately clear on an MRI, but given time and knowledge, they will be able to distinguish them. The MRI machine knows what it's looking at, the weak link is the process of the data, they filter it through computer, and people looking at the data. MRI machine can show chemical reactions and everything, it is really almost unlimited in power, it's just that you need to know how to untap the power of the MRI.

 

[Irene3]

I recently had an MRI, and my gi told me it showed 10cm of stricturing. So it will show if the intestine is inflamed, thickening etc. also I've had a few ct's, and was recently told that an MRI has no radiation as aposed to ct, so I'd ask for MRI before ct if needed. Should show inflammation no problem.

 

[kiny]

and was recently told that an MRI has no radiation as aposed to ct, so I'd ask for MRI before ct if needed. Should show inflammation no problem.

Yep, and while people might claim a CT scan is no big deal in terms of radiation, they tend to talk about 1 or 2 scans.

People with crohn's disease tend to need multiple scans and tend to come back for scans many times during their disease, you should avoid too much CT radiation whenever possible.

 

[Ihurt]

MRI is likely much better and much safer. I have read that one CT scan equals like 500 chest x-rays in terms of how muh radiation they pump in to you. I was reading consmer reports and the safety of x rays, and radiation. They said the CT scan is exposes a person to the most radiation. Also, the barium xrays are the second highest when it comes to radiaition exposure. I honestly think doctors are WAY to quick to order these scans that expose people to high amounts of radiation. I think that doctors should be even more careful when it comes to people with crohns disease. I mean having crohn's mean you will likley need a few scan in your lifetime, not mention if anything else happens health wise not related to crohns that can require scans. So I guess MRI would be a better bet.