Who can analyse an MRI?

[doadeer]

I have scan photos and consultant basic notes - if I want to pay an expert to analyse them for me... What am I looking for?

Is it a physio/osteopath/rhematologist (sp?)?

Any advice welcome

An NHS or private hospital MRI should be reported by a radiologist. A GP can read the report (but not the images) and tell you where you might need referring onwards to e.g orthopaedics/rheum/physio. How did you arrange the MRI, is there a report?

I've got a physio booked in with NHS to go through the results but it's 3 weeks and I'm impatient! I was hoping I could get a second opinion quickly privately

Is it the actual images you want looking at or do you have the report?

I have the images and a small amount of notes from the radiographer. Who does the report?

A radiologist or an -ologist in whatever field the issue is.

Although without proper scan images, no one who's opinion is worth anything will look at them.

What's your concern? Unhappy with results I assume? You could ask for a second opinion.

You would need an Orthopaedic Clinical Specialist Physio to interpret.

What does the radiology report say?

In a hospital setting a radiologist would analyse the MRI and write up a report of the findings, and then your doctor or whoever would go through the report with you. If you have the report it’ll be easier to find someone who can go through it for you, but if someone needs to actually analyse the images that might be trickier to arrange because they would need access to all of the frames from the MRI.

Surely it depends on what the MRI is for? If it was on your brain then it'll be a different person to if they'd scanned your leg....

I have all the frames 133 images. The report is like 5 lines. I am scheduled to have a physio go through the results (this is the NHS process). I'm just a bit impatient as this appointment is weeks away. I wondered if someone could do an analysis earlier but wasn't sure which private specialist to contact.

It's on lumbar spine and pelvis linked to disc and ligament damage

If you have the report, that's the report. You could just self refer to a private physio.

Is a report usually just a couple of lines?

Depends what they find but no reason why not. A sentence or two describing the problem, another to say no other abnormalities found

I think usually radiologists prefer to have the digital images to scroll, zoom in etc?

@VeggieSausageRoll

Depends what they find but no reason why not. A sentence or two describing the problem, another to say no other abnormalities found

The issue that I thought I had wasnt mentioned but they found other abnormalities that's why it's confusing

Consultant spinal physios specialise in back injuries/pain (or in the hospital where I work at least) and may well be who you are seeing in a couple of weeks.

A Radiologist generally reviews the images, and passes the report onto the relevant clinician.

But yeah @doadeer a MR report is often only a few lines or a short paragraph. If it's normal. Something along the lines of "normal appearance of vertebrae, no signs of disk degeneration, normal appearance of spinal cord. No evidence of cord compression ... etc..." are the kind of reports I've seen many times :)

Sorry, should have said - spinal physios can interpret MR images

@ShopTattsyrup thank you!
It says wide disc bulge which I'm guessing isn't great.... I thought what I had was ligament laxity around SI joint but it doesn't mention that. Hence why I was wondering if someone could check that on the images.

You could try contacting your GP, sharing the report and seeing if he/she will refer you straight to an Ortho surgeon?

Have you got loss of sensation or muscle weakness? Loss of bladder/bowel function?

Does it say anything about herniation or where it protrudes?

@StateOfTheUterus

Have you got loss of sensation or muscle weakness? Loss of bladder/bowel function?

No I don't have these. It's been a long journey for past two years triggered by pregnancy. It's just been a very disjointed experience seeking help as depending on which path you get sent down you can reach dead ends or you don't encounter specialists.

I believe I have compressed disks and SI joint ligament laxity as a result of hypermobility and SPD in pregnancy. My pelvis is very unstable and painful and I have severe pelvic pain at the back. I do physio etc now but they wanted me to have MRI as it's not improving.

Ligament laxity wouldn't be identified on an MRI, that would require a physical examination. There's nothing to say you don't have both

Sounds grim. And navigating through all that is hard.

It’s sounds like what will happen is the NHS Spinal Physio will review and then share with the Ortho consultants to decide if surgery is warranted.

You could see if you go straight to your GP you can be referrred directly?

The rehab you’ve done won’t be wasted as if you do need surgery you’ll be much better recovering if you’ve done the work on your back exercises.

Some disc bulges resolve on their own but it sounds like you’re having a rough time

Oh the original referral was from GP haha it's just going round in circles. I'm sure the NHS physio will be helpful. It seems like one single exam isn't enough to show the full picture I'm just impatient to get some answers it's been a long journey.

Yes I do one to one pilates aswell, I'm quite strong physically but just live with terrible daily pain and survive on pain killers to look after my toddler. Grim is right 😢