JustAnswer > Health
Ask A Question|Register|Login|Help
JustAnswer

Health

Ask a Health Question, Get an Answer ASAP!

Have your own Health question?

16 Doctors and Nurses are Online Now
characters left:
Not a Health Question?

Related Health Topics:

  • Arm
  • ,
  • Few
  • ,
  • Mri
  • ,
  • Wet
  • ,
  • Bone
  • ,
  • Foot
  • ,
  • Hand
  • ,
  • Heal
  • ,
  • Kind
  • ,
  • Long
Bookmark and Share

Question

what does this mean? : there apears to be cortical breakthrough at the proximal medial aspect of the navicular. no discrete fracture is seen...............

Submitted: 450 days and 22 hours ago.
Category: Health
Value: $14
Status: CLOSED
+
Read More

Optional Information

Age: 40; Female, Maryland

Already Tried:
i am currently in a hard cast and am wondering why when there is no fracture

Posted by Dr. Mark 450 days and 21 hours ago.

Info Request

Is this an xray?

And did you have trauma to your foot?

How long after the trauma was this xray done?

450 days and 21 hours ago.

Reply

hello dr mark,

actually, this is my carpal navicular they are referring to. i am rather active and had been doing a new workout consisting of pushups and pullups for a few months. i started to have pain in the wrist and thumb. i have always had flair ups on this wrist and thought maybe it was carpel tunnel syndrome. so this pain started and i just kept working out on the wrist not wanting to stop activity. i then did some kickboxing and hit a heavyweight bag about 3-4 weeks ago and the pain got a little worse...........i HAD to stop working out. i had a x ray done but 3-4 weeks have already passed since the pain. i was then sent for an mri and what i wrote in about was the wet read on the mri. i have been casted and am wondering why if no fracture has occured? working out is almost impossible with a cast on my right arm and i do not like being inactive..............i am an orthopedists dream in that i always sustain some sort of injury from running or some kind of sport.

Accepted Answer

OK.

The bones in your hand (and all the bones in the body) have a cortex, or hard outer covering, and the softer cancellous part (the softer, bone marrow part).

A MRI is not the best study to look for a fracture (the CT scan is), but can show the soft tissues in the area very well.

Cortical breakthrough means that the cortex does not appear continuous -- e.g. there is a break in the cortex, meaning there could be (or have been) a break in the underlying bone. However, they did not see an obvious fracture in the body of the navicular bone, (but then again this is a MRI scan, and not the best picture to see a fracture). However, the cortical breakthrough could represent a semi healed injury, as it appears your scan was done weeks after the injury (where the bone could have started to heal). Regardless, it is not normal to see this cortical breakthrough, and likely representative of your injury.

Picture
Expert: Dr. Mark
Pos. Feedback: 99.8 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 8/27/2008

Doctor (MD)

U.S. Physician/Surgeon in Neurosurgery

+
Read More

Related Health Questions

  • Can you do yoga while you have your menstral period..and if ...
  • mitochondrial disorders
  • Rashes
  • I have a a small about a half inch red mark that has like a ...
  • what does tdd users mean
  • am i over weight ...
  • Motion Sickness
  • Yesterday I woke up with a slight, painful swelling just ...



Disclaimer: Information in questions, answers, and other posts on this site ("Posts") comes from individual users, not JustAnswer; JustAnswer is not responsible for Posts. Posts are for general information, are not intended to substitute for informed professional advice (medical, legal, veterinary, financial, etc.), or to establish a professional-client relationship. The site and services are provided "as is" with no warranty or representations by JustAnswer regarding the qualifications of Experts. To see what credentials have been verified by a third-party service, please click on the "Verified" symbol in some Experts' profiles. JustAnswer is not intended or designed for EMERGENCY questions which should be directed immediately by telephone or in-person to qualified professionals.
Question List | Become an Expert | Terms of Service | Security & Privacy | About Us
© 2003-2009 JustAnswer Corp.