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Old 10-17-2006, 04:34 PM
annapurna annapurna is offline
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MRIs, CT, and any other imaging technique works so long as you accept the immediate vicinity of the ADR, or any metal implant, will be distorted due to the metal artifact. You get fillings in your teeth and it doesn't stop the dentist from checking nearby areas for decay with an xray. The trick I mention about working around the artifact has been done by one radiologist, mostly as he was the only one willing to spend any time thinking about it, but it 'threw' the artifact towards the stomach and away from the facets such that they could be imaged. That would be of interest to a post-ADR patient worried about their facets and doesn't apply to this question.

As a side note, when I mention metal artifact you could imagine this as trying to look through fog using a flashlight and having a large reflective object blocking part of your field of view. If you point the light far enough away, you can see fine but as the light partially illuminates the object, the light scatters and makes it harder to see.
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Laura - L5S1 Charitee
C5/6 and 6/7 Prodisc C
Facet problems L4-S1
General joint hypermobility

Jim - C4/5, C5/6, L4/5 disk bulges and facet damage, L4/5 disk tears, currently using regenerative medicine to address

"There are many Annapurnas in the lives of men" Maurice Herzog
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