Any Doctors in the House?

[JLStorm]

I just got an MRI back about my chest / shoulder and I am having trouble making heads or tales of it. I still have a few weeks before I get to see the doctor again, but I from the terminology I am familiar with, I can tell this is bad. It might be beyond surgery depending on a few things. Anyway, Im just wondering if any doctors would be able to quickly read the report (about a paragraph) and tell me if there is any tendon left attached to the chest or not.

Thought it might be worth a try ask...

[Doc4]

Sorry, just in case you were wondering, I'm not a doctor (even though my username might imply that ... )

But still, you have my best wishes in dealing with this problem ... I hope things turn out well for you !!

[FiReSTaRT]

Yeah Josh, I hope there will be something that can be done to fix you right up

[mhailey]

I was pre-med for two weeks freshman year. What's your issue.

[JLStorm]

Here is the report findings if anyone is or knows a doctor who could tell me if the tendon is torn from the muscle or if the tendon is still attached to the muscle and the partially to the bone, and is only itself torn.

HISTORY: 28-year-old man with right pectoralis major rupture.
TECHNIQUE: Multiplanar and multi-sequence MR imaging of the right hemithorax was performed at 1.5 Tesla without
intravenous contrast material.
COMPARISON: none.
FINDINGS:
There is an acute/subacute complete rupture of the right pectoralis major at the myotendinous junction of the humeral
insertion site. Associated edema is present in the perifascial tissues and within the lateral muscle belly of the pectoralis
major. Fluid/hematoma fills the space between the torn tendon fragments. A portion of the torn tendon remains attached at
the humeral insertion. There is no muscular atrophy.
No marrow edema is seen in the humerus. The remainder of the osseous structures and soft tissues of the right hemithorax
are unremarkable.
IMPRESSION:
Acute/subacute complete rupture of the right pectoralis major at the myotendinous junction of the humeral insertion
site. Please see comment.

[majurey]

I'll try to run it by my wife tonight and see what she thinks. (She's a General Practitioner so might be somewhat rusty with this sort of medicine.)

Fingers crossed for you!

[Sunsi]

I am not a doctor by any stretch, but to my mind it looks like what they are saying is that you have ruptured the muscle completely, but that there is no damage to the surrounding areas, and that the body is responding normally and healthily to such damage. No marrow is a good sign too because it means that the damage is purely muscular.

Good that there isn't even any atrophy already because it means you may not lose much mass.

I am sure it will be OK - its a fairly common injury so I am sure that they know what they are doing, and now that they know more about what your body is doing, they can recommend the right course of action to complement what your body has already started.

Si

[jnich67]

I could be wrong, but I think Kees is a GP. Maybe you could drop him a PM. Good luck with the recovery Josh.

Jordan

[Kees]

The quintessence is that you tore the pectoral muscle tendon. The pectoral muscle is the muscle that pulls the humerus (upper arm bone) forward. I am not a gun man but I think the place of the rupture is where you put the butt of your rifle when you shoot. Every time you pull the trigger the butt of your rifle is pushed hard against the pectoral muscle tendon. The muscle will have to contract fiercely to stop your shoulder being swung backwards due to the recoil.

Edema (fluid in the tissues) is often a sign of irritation or inflammation. Muscles and tendons that are no longer actively used often become engorged with fluids. But also repetitive trauma can cause edema. Edema weakens muscles and tendons.
The hematoma (collection of blood in tissues) is evidence of fairly recent (i.e acute/subacute) trauma/rupture. Perifascial tissues is tissues around a muscle, the fascia being the outside lining of the muscle.

I hope this helps. If you have more questions let me know.

Although I think best thing to do is to have the rupture repaired a.s.a.p (if possible of course) recovery will take quite some time (couple o' months rather than weeks).

Wishing you all the best and speedy recovery,

Kees

[Mike Blue]

Read this link. http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/408531

PM sent.