Is Ct scan more reliable than MRI?

[charles78]

anyone ever sent for a ct scan because of something that showed in an mri but it didn't show in the ct? in my case they were looking to see if it was a hemangioma in a vertebra but the ct said nothing of that or the marrow issue that showed up throughout the spine. would the mri just be wrong or over analyzed or what? I just found it odd that it didn't say anything at all relating to it, if it were a hemangioma or that anything showed at all in that vertebra. I am more than happy that they didn't find anything there as long as there is nothing there. Just curious if that would warrant more testing or if leaving at that is the ideal thing?

[Neil Cuadra]

From what I've read, MRIs produce better soft tissue images than CT scans, while CT scans give good images of bony structures. In the case of a hemangioma spine, if that's what they suspected, the combination of scans might give them the most information about a blood vessel accumulation in a vertebra. I'm just guessing, however.

Since CT scans involve radiation it's best to limit them to cases where they are needed to make a proper diagnosis or a treatment decision. Presumably that was the case for you. Perhaps they weren't merely looking for a hemangioma but looking for any other spinal problems.

You mentioned in your other thread that your doctor isn't very communicative. You might have to press harder for answers when you next get a chance.

[charles78]

hi, and thank you for responding,
I'm not really sure if they were looking for a marrow issue as well, that had shown up in the mri but from my understanding it was primarily for the C4 vertebra, that said could be (and at the time the neuro surgeon said probably was just) a hemangeoma. He did say the reason he did that was because he was looking for cancer, which I figured but he didn't want to tell me earlier on. But based on (I'm assuming) the CT that he decided it wasn't but wants me to keep my appt. with the oncologist. I'm not really a Dr. type person and I really would like to not see any that I don't have too lol