Gliotic Change

New diagnosis and before diagnosis
1

I am having a bit of a nightmare with the MRI results.

After waiting weeks for the hospital to send out a blood test form for me to have my B12 and Copper levels tested and I arranged to have blood taken at my GPs and rung the consultants secretary to say I would be doing this. They were taken on the 26th September.

Last week I got a letter telling me to come in on the 15th. Today I have a letter telling me to se the enclosed blood form to go and get the blood tests and they will then arrange an appointment to discus the results with me. My husband rung the secretary and she said yes actually they could see my blood tests results but to go and get them done again anyway. They won’t be ready for the appointment on Monday though. Argh!

I just got home after being discharged from rehab following my brain haem, I am finding this all so stressful and hard to follow!

Anyway the letter also said there is no trapped nerve visable on my MRI and that it showed ‘the aneurysm clip and a small amount of gliotic change in the left frontal lobe as a consequence of surgery, but no major areas of infarction secondary to your subarahnoid haemorrhage’. I think that means I was right in thinking there is some scarring on my brain following surgery but does anyone know anything about this?

The letter confirms again that the electrical test showed no evidence of trapping at the elbow either and that they have not established a cause for my sensory disturbance in my hands. She mentioned a LP previously but I am guessing I don’t have anything to suggest MS so maybe not?

Any help much appreciated. I was in a good mood earlier finishing rehab and doing so well and now I am confused and upset that having waited since August for these results nothing is running smoothly or making sense!

Thanks for reading

2

This isn’t something I know very much about, but my understanding would be that it means, yes, there is some scarring at the site of your surgery, but that there is little evidence of further damage.

Infarcts and demyelination usually look very different on MRI so, given that there is no mention of demyelination, I would think it’s safe to assume there are no MS-like lesions.

One thing though - if I were you, I would want an explanation of the use of the word “major”. It may not be MS, but is there something causing new, smaller areas of damage?

Don’t lose heart - it may not have been what you were expecting, but it’s more info for the experts: more pieces of the puzzle.

Hang in there!

Karen x