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I had surgery on my back to remove a tumor. It turned out to be a herniated disk in an unusual area. Doesn’t the MRI show the difference between these two?

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been very helpful to doctors when looking at soft tissue problems. However, the MRI isn’t 100 percent correct. For example, the MRI doesn’t show areas of calcification or hardening of tissue.

Some conditions just can’t be clearly seen with X-rays or MRI. Sometimes, the doctor must remove the tissue and send it to the lab for final identification. This may be the only way to get a sure diagnosis.

Reference: 

Bikash Bose, MD, FACS, FICS, FAHA. Thoracic Extruded Disc Mimicking Spinal Cord Tumor. Case Report. In The Spine Journal. January/February 2003. Vol. 3. No. 1. Pp. 82-86.

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