Had a Brain MRI with/without contrast. Had them put me on the list to get the report along with my primary doc and the neurologist (upcoming appointment next week. Any ideas what this means? Thanks.


Findings-
“Solitary round focus of increased T2 signal measuring 3mm in the left posterior temporal lobe on series 8 image 13”

Impression-
“Solitary 3mm round focus of increased T2 signal in the posterior left temporal lobe, which may reflect a isolated area of mild chronic microangiopathy”


Been having some symptoms like numbness and trouble focusing at work, etc

quote:

microangiopathy

Means something to do with artery…so I’m guessing you have a bulging artery that hasn’t burst yet and the swelling is what pushing on your brain and causing the symptoms…but I’m not a doctor

quote:

Originally posted by MikeinNC:

quote:

microangiopathy

Means something to do with artery…

Nope. "Micro" means relating to the small blood vessels: Microangiopathy

If anybody with Type 2 diabetes ever needed a good reason to address it, one would think this sure should do the trick:

quote:

Pathophysiology

One cause of microangiopathy is long-term diabetes mellitus. In this case, high blood glucose levels cause the endothelial cells lining the blood vessels to take in more glucose than normal (these cells do not depend on insulin). They then form more glycoproteins on their surface than normal, and also cause the basement membrane in the vessel wall to grow abnormally thicker and weaker. Therefore, they bleed, leak protein, and slow the flow of blood through the body.

quote:

Diabetes

Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels.

Ref: Diabetes

As for the OP: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, nor did I stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I'll refrain from commenting on your lab results.

Yeah, recent type 2 diagnosis. Its hard to figure out based on google searches how serious this is. Seems to make references to increased risks for dementia and other issues. Thought we might have a doc here that could give an opinion.

Work a sales/tech job and have been having major issues lately with cognitive function…reading/understanding multiple sources and creating content, interacting with clients. A simple email that should take 5 minutes has been stretching into hours. I’ll look at a ton of source material and forget and not be able to bring together a cohesive written thought. Also numbness/tingling pretty much everywhere not isolated to hands/feet.

Talked to my primary when discussing symptoms, thought we needed to adjust treatment related to type 2 but they had that weird uncomfortable look on their face and said “hey, so…I’m scheduling you a brain mri and referral to a neurologist” and now I get this report.

Not going to comment here, but we have only a small piece of the puzzle. Age, medical history, current medications are part of the equation. I have seen MRIs with "suspicous findings", but little else. To make any kind of diagnosis would be purely speculative. Keep us posted.

quote:

Originally posted by EmpireState:
Yeah, recent type 2 diagnosis.

I rather suspected that might be the case, given your scan results, what I read about microangiopathy, and the ubiquitousness of Type 2 diabetes in the U.S. in recent years.

Wish I some answers for you, but, this kind of thing isn't anywhere near to being even remotely close to my wheelhouse.

This could be any number of things and what you will get here is internet speculation. It may or may not be germane to the issues you describe.

Best bet, wait for an official interpretation from people who can look at the MRI and know what they are talking about.

Good Luck,

RMD

I stopped asking for copies of special testing not performed by my own doctor, because I realize I don't understand them well enough and they cause anxiety waiting for the report from my doctor. I stopped when a pet scan revealed an 8mm "mass" on my right lung. I sweated that for a week, until my doctor told me he believed it was a calcium deposit and harmless unless it got pretty large. I've had follow ups to measure the growth, if any, and there has been none, so I'm good.

Solid advice thank you all. Upcoming first appt Wednesday with the neurologist, I’m sure they’ll be able to provide more information.