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Suggest Treatment For Acoustic Neuroma
Question: Query for Dr. Darushi Saghafi, I kindly need your opinion and advise
Dear Sir,
I am Mrs. XXXXXXX from Pondicherry, XXXXXXX I am writing this in regard of my mother, Mrs. XXXXXXX XXXXXXX who is 54 yr old. My Mom is being diagnosed as Brain tumor on Feb2014.
Since January 2014, she use to regularly complain about dizziness, headache and then her vision was not clear. She use to strain herself to watch television. In the month of Feb 2014, I took her to an eye specialist for a check up. During her examination of eyes, opthamologist advised my Mom to have a CT scan of eyes. Her symptoms were found to be frequent dizziness and a slight blurred vision. Her dizziness used to last only for 5-10 mins and she becomes normal but this happens atleast 10-15 times a day. The report of the CT scan showed that her eye nerves were swollen. So the opthamologist advised to take the MRI scan of her brain to find out the reason for her eye nerve swelling. After a week, she was taken to hospital for MRI scan and the report was found to be that she has a cholestrol fat in her brain. The neurologist said that it is not cancer but a cholesterol fat which need to be removed within a year. Herewith I have attached the reports for your clear information. The neurologist suggested to undergo surgery and no medicines were prescribed. We then took a second opinion from another neurologist who reported the same. The opinion taken from the second neurologist reported that the patient could have 50% chances to survive after surgery and moreover he said after surgery the patient may undergo other critical problems too in future since the brain nerve is supposed to be cut during surgery. Moreover, my Mom was not willing to go for a surgery. She was frightened and since then on she is not stepping out of home to go hospital for a check up. We then opted to go for ayurveda treatment. This ayurveda treatment was started since last month but we see no improvement. Her vomiting got stopped but the vision is now partially gone. We have found slight delay in her response to recognise things via vision.She is not able to recognize anyone unless we touch her. I would like to mention here that if she travels and comes back home, she becomes completely sick. She sometimes gets irritation of sounds. The ayurveda doctor keeps coming to our home to see the status of my Mom's health and now he had changed few medicines especially for her eyes. overall, I would like to say that she is not able to see and feeling sickness. There is no history of weight loss, diabetes and hypertension.
Based on the report mentioned including the attached MRI scan, I would like to ask few queries
1. Are there any medicines to improve her health without any surgery
2. What would be your opinion on the above mentioned report
3. Is there any medicines to get back her vision
4. If we opt for a sugery, what would be the success rate and complications in future
Thanks and regards
XXXXXXX
Dear Sir,
I am Mrs. XXXXXXX from Pondicherry, XXXXXXX I am writing this in regard of my mother, Mrs. XXXXXXX XXXXXXX who is 54 yr old. My Mom is being diagnosed as Brain tumor on Feb2014.
Since January 2014, she use to regularly complain about dizziness, headache and then her vision was not clear. She use to strain herself to watch television. In the month of Feb 2014, I took her to an eye specialist for a check up. During her examination of eyes, opthamologist advised my Mom to have a CT scan of eyes. Her symptoms were found to be frequent dizziness and a slight blurred vision. Her dizziness used to last only for 5-10 mins and she becomes normal but this happens atleast 10-15 times a day. The report of the CT scan showed that her eye nerves were swollen. So the opthamologist advised to take the MRI scan of her brain to find out the reason for her eye nerve swelling. After a week, she was taken to hospital for MRI scan and the report was found to be that she has a cholestrol fat in her brain. The neurologist said that it is not cancer but a cholesterol fat which need to be removed within a year. Herewith I have attached the reports for your clear information. The neurologist suggested to undergo surgery and no medicines were prescribed. We then took a second opinion from another neurologist who reported the same. The opinion taken from the second neurologist reported that the patient could have 50% chances to survive after surgery and moreover he said after surgery the patient may undergo other critical problems too in future since the brain nerve is supposed to be cut during surgery. Moreover, my Mom was not willing to go for a surgery. She was frightened and since then on she is not stepping out of home to go hospital for a check up. We then opted to go for ayurveda treatment. This ayurveda treatment was started since last month but we see no improvement. Her vomiting got stopped but the vision is now partially gone. We have found slight delay in her response to recognise things via vision.She is not able to recognize anyone unless we touch her. I would like to mention here that if she travels and comes back home, she becomes completely sick. She sometimes gets irritation of sounds. The ayurveda doctor keeps coming to our home to see the status of my Mom's health and now he had changed few medicines especially for her eyes. overall, I would like to say that she is not able to see and feeling sickness. There is no history of weight loss, diabetes and hypertension.
Based on the report mentioned including the attached MRI scan, I would like to ask few queries
1. Are there any medicines to improve her health without any surgery
2. What would be your opinion on the above mentioned report
3. Is there any medicines to get back her vision
4. If we opt for a sugery, what would be the success rate and complications in future
Thanks and regards
XXXXXXX
Brief Answer:
Brain Tumor
Detailed Answer:
Good morning Ms. XXXXXXX My name is Dr. Saghafi and I am a neurologist from XXXXXXX Ohio, USA.
Thank you for seeking an opinion with myself even though you have already seen very likely excellent other neurologists already whose opinions I will not likely be able to improve very much given the MRI report. Let me tell you what you already know about the reports. There is a tumor within the brain that your mother has called an acoustic neuroma or another name is Schwannoma or Acoustic Neuroma. There seem to also be some bilateral cystic areas in the Trigeminal Nerve also defined as Schwannomas but they do not appear to be malignant according to the report. She also has the consequence of an obstructive hydrocephalus which is causing increasing pressure within the head. This can cause severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, and much difficulty with both her vision and heaing. This is likely why she is having trouble seeing very well any more. She is also having a vertiginous sensation from what I gather and again, this will continue and even get worse unless the tumor is surgically removed.
1. Are there any medicines to improve her health without any surgery
>>> NO. There are no medicines to stabilize her neurologically while the tumor remains present. The tumor will continue growing but likely at a slow pace.
2. What would be your opinion on the above mentioned report
>>>>See my statements above as they in fact, summarize the report.
3. Is there any medicines to get back her vision
>>>>NO. As I state above the loss of vision is as a result of the increased pressure inside of the head. The longer that situation is not taken care then, the more likely she is of suffering permanent visual damage that will never return.
On the topic very briefly of Ayuverdic treatments....you should know that in the US the evidence for ayuverdic treatments is that of poor efficacy and poor outcomes. In fact, Western Medicine believes that there are many toxins within the ayuverdic treatment strategies that can add potentially harmful substances such as heavy metals to a patient and these are clearly harmful to the nerves, the brain, etc. I believe that those types of treatments should stop until the tumor is taken care of.
4. If we opt for a sugery, what would be the success rate and complications in future.
>>>>I'm afraid the better person to answer these questions would be the neurosurgeon who is physically present to be able and give you an assessment based upon examination of your mother and observation of how she does ambulate, etc. etc.
Even though I can't give you specifics on either the success or complication rates I can tell you that in my opinion and with what I KNOW through the chart that I would see this as a more and more complicated picture if the tumor is left in place. I believe the tumor needs to be resected in order for your mother to have any chance at a decent quality of Life.
If any of the information I've asked or provided has been useful to further your understanding or give you ideas as to which direction to turn next and you'd like to CLOSE THIS QUERY then, could you do me a favor and leave some brief feedback with a STAR RATING for the quality of the response?
Alternatively, we could continue this conversation and you may upload information if available such as lab tests, etc. and I would be happy to review them. I would especially love to see any CT or MRI's of the brain then, and now.
Please feel free to contact me at any time to ask more questions about this or any other topic you would like by using the following link:
http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/Funnel?page=askDoctorDirectly&docId=68474
This query required 90 minutes of physician specific time to review, research, and compile the final draft for envoy.
I wish you, your mother, and your family well. I know this is a tough decision and you'd prefer to avoid surgery...anybody would....but I'm afraid that in this case there is no other way that I can see it but to have surgery.
Brain Tumor
Detailed Answer:
Good morning Ms. XXXXXXX My name is Dr. Saghafi and I am a neurologist from XXXXXXX Ohio, USA.
Thank you for seeking an opinion with myself even though you have already seen very likely excellent other neurologists already whose opinions I will not likely be able to improve very much given the MRI report. Let me tell you what you already know about the reports. There is a tumor within the brain that your mother has called an acoustic neuroma or another name is Schwannoma or Acoustic Neuroma. There seem to also be some bilateral cystic areas in the Trigeminal Nerve also defined as Schwannomas but they do not appear to be malignant according to the report. She also has the consequence of an obstructive hydrocephalus which is causing increasing pressure within the head. This can cause severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, and much difficulty with both her vision and heaing. This is likely why she is having trouble seeing very well any more. She is also having a vertiginous sensation from what I gather and again, this will continue and even get worse unless the tumor is surgically removed.
1. Are there any medicines to improve her health without any surgery
>>> NO. There are no medicines to stabilize her neurologically while the tumor remains present. The tumor will continue growing but likely at a slow pace.
2. What would be your opinion on the above mentioned report
>>>>See my statements above as they in fact, summarize the report.
3. Is there any medicines to get back her vision
>>>>NO. As I state above the loss of vision is as a result of the increased pressure inside of the head. The longer that situation is not taken care then, the more likely she is of suffering permanent visual damage that will never return.
On the topic very briefly of Ayuverdic treatments....you should know that in the US the evidence for ayuverdic treatments is that of poor efficacy and poor outcomes. In fact, Western Medicine believes that there are many toxins within the ayuverdic treatment strategies that can add potentially harmful substances such as heavy metals to a patient and these are clearly harmful to the nerves, the brain, etc. I believe that those types of treatments should stop until the tumor is taken care of.
4. If we opt for a sugery, what would be the success rate and complications in future.
>>>>I'm afraid the better person to answer these questions would be the neurosurgeon who is physically present to be able and give you an assessment based upon examination of your mother and observation of how she does ambulate, etc. etc.
Even though I can't give you specifics on either the success or complication rates I can tell you that in my opinion and with what I KNOW through the chart that I would see this as a more and more complicated picture if the tumor is left in place. I believe the tumor needs to be resected in order for your mother to have any chance at a decent quality of Life.
If any of the information I've asked or provided has been useful to further your understanding or give you ideas as to which direction to turn next and you'd like to CLOSE THIS QUERY then, could you do me a favor and leave some brief feedback with a STAR RATING for the quality of the response?
Alternatively, we could continue this conversation and you may upload information if available such as lab tests, etc. and I would be happy to review them. I would especially love to see any CT or MRI's of the brain then, and now.
Please feel free to contact me at any time to ask more questions about this or any other topic you would like by using the following link:
http://doctor.healthcaremagic.com/Funnel?page=askDoctorDirectly&docId=68474
This query required 90 minutes of physician specific time to review, research, and compile the final draft for envoy.
I wish you, your mother, and your family well. I know this is a tough decision and you'd prefer to avoid surgery...anybody would....but I'm afraid that in this case there is no other way that I can see it but to have surgery.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Answered by
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