BETA - What is the role of  Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in diagnosing and monitoring myeloma and smoldering myeloma?

When you’re living with multiple myeloma, imaging is one of the most important tools doctors use to understand what’s happening inside the body—and MRI scans play a unique role in detecting disease early, evaluating painful areas, and monitoring treatment response.

In this HealthTree University video, we explain how MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) works, what the experience is like for patients, and why MRI can be especially valuable in multiple myeloma and smoldering myeloma. We discuss how MRI differs from CT and PET scans, when whole-body versus targeted MRI scans are used, and how MRI helps identify focal lesions before bone damage becomes visible on other imaging studies.

We also cover important topics such as claustrophobia during MRI scans, contrast agents like gadolinium, spinal cord evaluation, plasmacytomas, diffuse marrow changes, and how often MRI imaging may be recommended throughout the myeloma journey.

Whether you are newly diagnosed, living with smoldering myeloma, or monitoring active disease, this lesson will help you better understand how MRI imaging fits into modern myeloma care.