Hi there, my husband was diagnosed with ppms last July. When he saw a new neurosurgeon in November, the neuro expressed slight doubts over the diagnosis and ordered a further mri. Since the mri, my husband has been given an appointment for an eeg. The possibility of an eeg being required was never mentioned before by the neuro. Just wondering if anyone else has had an eeg to further investigate ms or if neuro is just looking for a tumour…??? I hate all the doubts and waiting and speculating! Thanks,
I could be wrong here, but I think that MRI has pretty much replaced the use of EEG in locating brain tumours. EEG is great for investigating the timing and speed of brain waves which can go wrong in different ways in different conditions, including MS, so perhaps the neuro is simply being thorough?
I hope you don’t have to wait too long for the results!
Hi J, It’s just occurred to me you did say neurosurgeon, not neurologist. Why was Hubby referred to a neurosurgeon in the first place? It wouldn’t be usual, following an MS diagnosis (any type of MS), because surgery isn’t a recognised treatment for MS. So was he having some unrelated problem? I saw a neurosurgeon before being diagnosed, because the theory at the time was I had a slipped disc, which would have been operable. But once it became clear I had MS - or at least, nothing that was operable - the surgeon dropped right out of the picture. I’m puzzled why someone would still get sent to the surgeon if they already had a confirmed MS diagnosis. Tina
Thank you all for the reassurances! It’s good to know that others have had eegs too.
Anitra, I have confused my neuro terms! Put it down to the stress! He saw a neurologist in November and it was the neurosurgeon before that when it was thought there was a lump on his spine. The neurologist was the one who expressed doubts about the diagnosis…he said the MRI showed lesions that may be MS but added ‘I have seen lesions like this with people who do not have MS.’ It leaves the question that, if not MS, then what is causing the symptoms? The eeg request came very quickly after the MRI had been completed (within a week)…I’m worried that the symptoms are in line with brain tumour but maybe I should stop searching the Internet and wait…too tempting though!
But if he didn’t see a neurologist until November, I’m not sure how Hubby could have had a definite MS diagnosis in July. A neurosurgeon wouldn’t be qualified to make that diagnosis, so there seems some doubt over exactly when, or by whom, he was diagnosed.
I don’t think the terms “lesions” and “tumour” would be used interchangeably. If the neuro (November’s neuro, that is) definitely said “lesions”, and that they “could be MS”, it doesn’t suggest to me that he’s seen anything resembling a tumour. I think a tumour might be referred to as an “unexplained mass”, or something like that, but not as “lesions”.
There are rarer lesion-causing conditions than MS, so my guess is he wants to rule out those.