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Dear All, I Have Been Getting Recent Headaches Which Are

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Posted on Mon, 29 Apr 2019
Question: Dear all,

I have been getting recent headaches which are not painful but rather feeling constantly discomfortable, like something heavy is on my head. I decided to do an MRI on the head and attached the report for your reference.

I have been diagnosed with sinusitis. I have been getting dizzy feeling with headaches with sometimes comes in the middle of the head (more towards the left side) and sometimes around the whole head.

In my report it says there is a small cycsic lesion found however when i met the doctors here , they said that it is nothing siginificant and is not causing the dizziness nor headaches I am facing , they said its the infection from sinusitis.

Also adding that i am now on medications to treat both sinusitis infection and the dizziness i am getting for almost 4 days now, the dizziness is getting much better and i am starting to feel normal again however the headache is still coming.

I wanted to double check if the cystic lesion mentioned in the report is something concerning and related to the above symptoms or nothing to be concerned with.

Thank you
doctor
Answered by Dr. Dariush Saghafi (3 hours later)
Brief Answer:
Given the limited information on 1 single image.....

Detailed Answer:
Good evening....many thanks for your question on this network. Certainly, on the basis of the report, however, it would appear to be true that the detected cyst which is being possibly called a congenital lesion is benign and probably not responsible for any symptoms and not in any way suspicious for pathology.

However, as so often is the case, interpreting an MRI sequence as a 3rd party observer requires many more than 1 image. This is why MRI studies not uncommonly have hundreds of slices taken by the machine and then, reviewed by a human being. It is not possible for me to see cuts that are below the image in this report or images above the cut which is the correct way of looking at something like this....

Also, I find no fault in the fact that whoever ordered the study did so WITHOUT the use of gadolinium contrast since the vast majority of MRI's for headaches are done in patients who are NONFOCAL neurologically (meaning that their neurological examination is dead normal) and are absolutely normal. In your case, because a cyst was localized and because you are complaining of new onset headaches....I might seriously consider the use of GADOLINIUM CONTRAST to see if the cyst has a lining that "lights up" because then, that would be a bit more descriptive of something that needs further investigation.

The image does not demonstrate the sinusitis found on the right side and if you're feeling better and less dizzy/vertiginous then, perhaps your symptoms can be ascribed to that pathology. It would depend in part how the radiologist called your type of sinusitis. If they believe that it is a CHRONIC problem (meaning it's been there for some time) as opposed to acute then, I would question the actual contributory effect on the headaches and might suggest that the current medication and your improvement in symptoms is mere coincidence. If the sinusitis is being classified as ACUTE or SUBACUTE then, it seems to go together with the expectation of your feeling better while taking appropriate medication.

Again, based on what this lesion looks like without the gadolinium contrast I could see where the doctors would say that there is no likely contribution to your headaches/dizziness. However, in my opinion, a repeat MRI study with GADOLINIUM CONTRAST would be so much more convincing that I would simply order it on my patient and not worry about making the overcall.

Does that make sense? I wish you all the best.....I believe you will continue to improve and get better......Cheers!
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
doctor
Answered by
Dr.
Dr. Dariush Saghafi

Neurologist

Practicing since :1988

Answered : 2473 Questions

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Dear All, I Have Been Getting Recent Headaches Which Are

Brief Answer: Given the limited information on 1 single image..... Detailed Answer: Good evening....many thanks for your question on this network. Certainly, on the basis of the report, however, it would appear to be true that the detected cyst which is being possibly called a congenital lesion is benign and probably not responsible for any symptoms and not in any way suspicious for pathology. However, as so often is the case, interpreting an MRI sequence as a 3rd party observer requires many more than 1 image. This is why MRI studies not uncommonly have hundreds of slices taken by the machine and then, reviewed by a human being. It is not possible for me to see cuts that are below the image in this report or images above the cut which is the correct way of looking at something like this.... Also, I find no fault in the fact that whoever ordered the study did so WITHOUT the use of gadolinium contrast since the vast majority of MRI's for headaches are done in patients who are NONFOCAL neurologically (meaning that their neurological examination is dead normal) and are absolutely normal. In your case, because a cyst was localized and because you are complaining of new onset headaches....I might seriously consider the use of GADOLINIUM CONTRAST to see if the cyst has a lining that "lights up" because then, that would be a bit more descriptive of something that needs further investigation. The image does not demonstrate the sinusitis found on the right side and if you're feeling better and less dizzy/vertiginous then, perhaps your symptoms can be ascribed to that pathology. It would depend in part how the radiologist called your type of sinusitis. If they believe that it is a CHRONIC problem (meaning it's been there for some time) as opposed to acute then, I would question the actual contributory effect on the headaches and might suggest that the current medication and your improvement in symptoms is mere coincidence. If the sinusitis is being classified as ACUTE or SUBACUTE then, it seems to go together with the expectation of your feeling better while taking appropriate medication. Again, based on what this lesion looks like without the gadolinium contrast I could see where the doctors would say that there is no likely contribution to your headaches/dizziness. However, in my opinion, a repeat MRI study with GADOLINIUM CONTRAST would be so much more convincing that I would simply order it on my patient and not worry about making the overcall. Does that make sense? I wish you all the best.....I believe you will continue to improve and get better......Cheers!