Musculoskeletal imaging overview
small joints, large joints & spine
Nuada Medical Specialist Imaging radiologists
The London Musculoskeletal Radiology Group at Nuada - see brochure |
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| Dr Muaaze Ahmad | Dr Syed Babar | Dr Sivadas Ganeshalingam | Dr Rosy Jalan | Dr. Petrie de Villiers |
| Further specialists | ||||
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| Dr Sajid Butt | Dr Adam Mitchell | Dr T Muthukumar | Dr Asif Saifuddin | Dr Sujit Vaidya |
Exploiting our 3T MRI, we excel in the imaging of:
Small joints, including:
- Elbows
- Wrists
- Ankles
- Feet
- Toes
The significant improvement in spatial resolution and image detail allows for a more accurate evaluation of significant injuries, which are often difficult to diagnose using a 1.5T MRI.
Our 3T MRI diagnostic services excel for patients with damage or injury to the small joints or their surrounding tissue – the wrist, hand, ankle, foot or elbow.
Larger joints:
3T MRI is also extremely good at identifying minute tendon tears, gradation of cartilage and articular abnormalities in larger joints;
- Knees
- Shoulders
- Hips
This greatly affects treatment plans and surgical decisions which can be of exceptional importance for sports injuries as well as ‘wear and tear’.
Further, we excel in evaluating articular cartilage (cartilage involved in movement), including degloving (tearing away of tissue), condyles, early degenerative change that otherwise can be difficult to evaluate. (Condyles are the rounded projection on the articulating end of a bone, such as the ball portion of a ball-and-socket joint).
Other very small, yet significant abnormalities of the cartilage and menisci can be visualized with great detail.
Back and spine
Exploiting our 3T MRI is also particularly good at diagnosis of backpain and spinal problems.
This includes evaluation of back pain and radicular (pain in arms and legs typically) symptoms caused by
- Degenerative disc disease
- Facet arthropathy (arthritis between the discs)
The established role of MRI in this clinical setting is to identify causes of nerve root compression (including disc protrusions, osteophytes, that is bone spurs, and synovial cysts*) and to assess severity of spinal stenosis, (a stenosis is a narrowing) as well as to exclude other conditions such as infection and neoplasm* that may not be clinically suspected.
Our 3T MRI, due to its sensitivity, can identify subtle abnormalities. Such advances provide the greatest advantage in the cervical spine where small disc spaces and relative paucity of epidural fat make delineation of disc protrusions more challenging than in the thoracic and lumbar spine.
In addition to identifying a possible source of back pain and radicular symptoms, referring clinicians also look to MRI findings to guide surgical intervention. Detailed information regarding spinal canal stenosis, neural foraminal narrowing (the holes where the nerves emerge from the spine), and compression of nerve roots and the spinal cord can tip the balance in favour of surgical rather than conservative treatment. Identification of an extruded or sequestered disc fragment is vital information for the surgeon prior to intervention.
*A synovial cyst (also known as a myzoid cyst or mucous cyst) or a ganglion (tissue mass) of the adjacent joint, caused by leakage of fluid from the joint into the surrounding tissue. These cysts often appear clinically with osteoarthritic symptoms, producing a gelatinous material if punctured.
* Neoplasm is an abnormal mass of tissue as a result of neoplasia. Neoplasia ("new growth" in Greek) is the abnormal proliferation of cells. The growth of neoplastic cells exceeds and is not coordinated with that of the normal tissues around it. The growth persists in the same excessive manner even after cessation of the stimuli. It usually causes a lump or tumour. Neoplasms may be benign, pre-malignant (carcinoma in situ) or malignant (cancer).
In modern medicine, the term tumour means a neoplasm that has formed a lump. Some neoplasms do not cause a lump.