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        New Message Board Archives >> Medications, Treatments, Therapies 2003 >> mra--- help im freakin
        
(Message started by: traym4 on May 20^th, 2003, 4:58pm)

Title: mra--- help im freakin
Post by traym4 on May 20^th, 2003, 4:58pm

my husband had to go for an mra today. has anyone ever had one???? they were asking him if he was ever diagnosed with an aneurism. and other related questions. is this normal???? we won't have the results for 2 days and i am totally beside myself.

tracey

Title: Re: mra--- help im freakin
Post by brain_cramps on May 20^th, 2003, 5:06pm

Tracey:

Did they ask him these questions before or after the test?

There's a good chance that the questions were just a series of 'routine questions'. I remember being asked a scarey question or two like that 20 yrs ago when I first saw a neuro. Scared me, but for no real reason... All I ended up with was CH ::).

Worrying won't help matters at all. (I know...easier said than done!!!)

grant 8)

Title: Re: mra--- help im freakin
Post by jonny on May 20^th, 2003, 5:08pm

Are you sure its MRA?

Most evey sufferer here has had an MRI, if its MRI then its normal and they just do this test to rule everything else out. its painless, its like a 20 minute xray.

Ive been here over three years and have never heard of anyone comming back with a bad MRI.

If its MRA then ive never heard of that.

....................................jonny

Title: Re: mra--- help im freakin
Post by Ueli on May 20^th, 2003, 7:12pm

The Acronym Finder (http://www.acronymfinder.com/) has quite a choice for MRA:
Massachusetts Restaurant Association
Men's Rights Agency
Moving Right Along
Milestone Review and Approval
Moral Rearmament
Maintenance and Repair Area
;D

But Tracey's hubby had a Magnetic Resonance Angiography.
In a Magnetic Resonance Imaging the distribution of hydrogen atoms is measured, that is, mainly how much water is in each region of the head. For a MRA, after the standard MRI is done, a hydrogen-rich contrast medium is injected, so the blood vessels show up more clearly.

MRI and MRA can't show clusters. They are done to rule out other conditions.

PFNADs
Ueli

Title: Re: mra--- help im freakin
Post by Marc on May 21^st, 2003, 12:12am

I had an MRA after my MRI came up clean.

I was fascinated by the process so I asked a lot of questions. According to both of my Neuro's: The imaging system for MRI and MRA are essentially the same. The difference is in the software that you run during the imaging process. The MRA targets blood vessels - hence the "angio" in the name. In my case, he wanted to rule out blockages as a source of my headaches.

My doctor spent about an hour showing me how to interpret the many, many different views. It was really cool to look at both the MRA and MRI side by side - and even nicer not to find any blockage ;D

Marc

Title: Re: mra--- help im freakin
Post by Medlengough on May 21^st, 2003, 11:22pm

MRA stands for Magnetic Resonance Arteriogram Imaging as opposed to the old plain Arteriogram.
Angiography focuses on the heart, it's valves and arteries, whereas the MR Arteriogram focuses on the Carotid Arteries, Temporal Arteries, and Subarrachnoid arteries.
The MRA can Rule In/ Rule Out blockages, known as Occlusions, but also dissections of the artery, aneurysms and fibromuscular dysplasia.
I know that any medical procedure that you undergo when you are already suffering is not good. But you may consider that your spouse is lucky to have a doctor that ordered the procedure at all. I have ask for one for years but it cannot be done for me due to metal that was accidentally left in my neck
from surgery. The plain old Arteriograms are rarely done these days and my physician doesn't even know of anyone who still performs the procedure.
I'm glad that your doctor at least is using the diagnostic tool to rule in or rule out.
I pray for good results for your spouse.
Medlengough

Title: Re: mra--- help im freakin
Post by traym4 on May 22^nd, 2003, 12:21am

they asked the questions after the test. thats whats freakin me out!!!!!!!!!!! let me give you a little history here. this all started about 3 years ago with my hubby out of the blue having seizures. no history what so ever. his mom has an non surgical aneurism. so they started by looking for that. they found nothing did mri's & a lumbar punture and they gave him the clear. about a year after that the clusters started. so no here we are today. the exact question they asked after the test was has anyone ever told you, you have an anuerism??? he said no. then they asked if anyone in his family has one. he said yes and asked why and of course the answer was your doctor will call. uggggggg. the suspense is killing me here. today is the day. the results should be back. i did do a little research and there are some really rare cases where clusters are caused by a tumor on the interior cartoroid artery in the head. has anyone else say anything on this???? i only found one article. i don't know the thing that is wierd is my hubby doesn't seem worried at all. all he keeps sayin is there is nothing wrong with me, im just a cluster head. while im freakin that this whole bad dream could get worse. i don't know how much more i can handle. i am so scared!!!!!!!!!!!!!! well i will keep everyone posted, thanks for listening. beleive it or not just writing out my feeling makes me feel a little better.

tracey