brain mri - please could someone take a look

[JeWeL41]

I'd love someone to look at my MRI and tell me what the bright white spot is? I have sudden hearing loss in that ear (Nov 2006), tinnitus, imbalance, headache on that side, earache and other symptoms, I don't have the final report but the preliminary says 'no area of pathological enhancement after intravenous contrast'. I was being checked as the suspicion was acoustic neuroma. Please help if you can as I desperately want to know what is causing my symptoms as they are getting worse.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

The sudden onset hearing loss doesn't go with a vestibular schwannoma (acoustic neuroma), though, 10% of acoustic neuroma cases do have sudden onset hearing loss.

Looking at this MRI picture, it appears to be the contrast filling up parts of the sigmoid sinus and the jugular bulb. Careful superimposition of this picture on an anatomical diagram should show the vestibulo-cochlear ( 8th ) nerve to be a little inside the white spot.

I am not sure why the contrast enhancement is showing only on one side, though. The head could have been tilted a bit or the contrast could have distributed unevenly. Rarely, there could be some variation in the anatomy of the sinus(es).

Acute or chronic middle ear infections may spread to the sinuses. You may have more severe symptoms in such a case. Do you have neck pain? The reason for asking this question is thrombosis of the sigmoid sinus is associated with neck pain, apart from all the symptoms you have described.

I am certainly not attempting any diagnosis here. But a tumor is less likely than other causes.

[SecondOccurance]

I hope all is well with your results.  I have to be honest, it looks to me like you had a dye-contrast mri done which shows a tumor, but I am not a dr and hope that i am wrong.  

[Marc423]

Just checking to see if you have come back...due to work I will be gone for about 1 week....I will check back then to see if you have posted.  Marc

[Marc423]

How did you turn out, I am the one that posted about the Ependymoma Tumor that was discovered in a wreck on 6-13-07, Subependymoma 1.9CM's Right Lateral Ventricle, Surgery 7-1-07@ Duke Hospital by Dr. Friedman, Neurosurgeon.  Your bright spot reminds me of my MRI and the Ependymoma Tumor, my was a bright white spot like yours.  I hope you are doing ok, no one answered my post that I put here back in January.
Best Regards,
If you need to respond to discuss I will check back.
Marc