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What Does This MRI Report Indicate?
Question: On an MRI of the brain the results read that there were multible punctate foci of abnormally increased signal are identified throughout the subcortical ad periventricular white matter on FLAIR and T2 weighted sequences?
Brief Answer:
Small vessel disease most likely cause
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern. It might have been useful if you had provided some more info on why was the MRI performed, what were the symptoms and their evolution in time as well as other medical conditions.
Judging from that description, the distribution of those changes and your age, the most likely nature of those foci would be chronic changes of the small blood vessels, called otherwise small vessel disease, or white matter hyper-intensities. They are due to changes in the walls of blood vessels, thickening of the walls and narrowing of their caliber leading to closure of the tiniest vessels and as a result small areas of damage.
Causes are multiple, partly are related to aging and genetic predisposition, but are also enhanced by issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol etc. So while not much can be done about aging and genes, it is important to monitor and address the above mentioned issues in order to slow down these changes.
Usually they do not cause any symptoms and are found by coincidence, only if really severe they cause slowing of movement and changes in cognition. A neurological consult is recommended to confirm the diagnosis and the stage.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Small vessel disease most likely cause
Detailed Answer:
I read your question carefully and I understand your concern. It might have been useful if you had provided some more info on why was the MRI performed, what were the symptoms and their evolution in time as well as other medical conditions.
Judging from that description, the distribution of those changes and your age, the most likely nature of those foci would be chronic changes of the small blood vessels, called otherwise small vessel disease, or white matter hyper-intensities. They are due to changes in the walls of blood vessels, thickening of the walls and narrowing of their caliber leading to closure of the tiniest vessels and as a result small areas of damage.
Causes are multiple, partly are related to aging and genetic predisposition, but are also enhanced by issues such as high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, high cholesterol etc. So while not much can be done about aging and genes, it is important to monitor and address the above mentioned issues in order to slow down these changes.
Usually they do not cause any symptoms and are found by coincidence, only if really severe they cause slowing of movement and changes in cognition. A neurological consult is recommended to confirm the diagnosis and the stage.
I remain at your disposal for other questions.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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