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25 Years Old. CT Scan Showed Brain Of 86 Years Old With Mild Frontal Lobe Atrophy. What To Do?

Posted on Wed, 17 Oct 2012

Question: Hello, Well it has been said that I have the brain of an 86 year old woman with mild frontal lobe atrophy. Would love to have a neurologist look at the image of my brain that the docs have referred to. I am 28 years of age but had this CT scan of my head done when I was in hospital when I was 25.
Please tell me what I can do....
Note: I have several views of my brain but, these are only a few of the many!

Answered by Dr. Vineet Saggar (3 hours later)

Dear XXXXXX

Thanks for posting your query and uploading the reports. I have taken a good look at them.

You do not seem to have a brain of 86 years old, you have only mild frontal atrophy on CT scan but I cannot be sure of that even also, that may be a normal variant. You require an MRI (Magnetic Resonant Imaging) for further evaluation. I am interested to know why you got a CT scan done, do you have any memory loss or forgetfulness. If not, then probably this is just a normal variation. If yes, you require further test for diagnosis of a condition.

Hope this gives you an insight. Do write back for follow up queries that you may have.

Regards
Dr. Vineet XXXXXX

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E

Follow up: Dr. Vineet Saggar (11 hours later)

Hi Dr. XXXXXX

Thank you for your answer. Much appreciated.

I went into hospital because I was forgetful and I was also hypomanic. The hypomania was said to be a result of one of the anti-depressants I was on (as that was very unusual for me). The forgetfulness (I am not sure)....may have been because I needed thyroid medication badly and was very low thyroid. Very hard to know. In any case, the psychiatrist at the hospital gave me tegretol to stop my brain from atrophying any more. Is this usual treatment?

I live in another province now and I do have an MRI scheduled for November but I am hoping to get off some of my medications including anti-seizure medication. Also, I am not bipolar according to the doctors.

Thanks! XXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Vineet Saggar (10 hours later)

Dear XXXXXX

Thanks for giving additional information. That helps.

Yes, forgetfulness and depression can be the result of hypothyroidism. So control your thyroid levels and they both can be gone. You can also get rid of antidepressants if your thyroid status is normal.

Tegretol is anti-seizure medication. It cannot prevent brain atrophy however. You may use it if you have seizure disorder; otherwise it can contribute to sedation. Discuss with your treating doctor.

Any way I don’t think you have any kind of atrophy in brain as per the CT scan. More information will be available through MRI scan.

Hope this answers your query. Let me know if you have other concerns.

Regards
Dr Vineet

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad