Arachnoid Cysts

[Starburst]

Hi Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone here ever had an arachnoid cyst. My son just did a CT scan, and a cyst was found in his left temporal lobe. He also has temporal lobe epilepsy, and the doctor said the cyst may be the reason my son's seizures have not stopped after more than a year of taking various medications.

Have been doing some reading and see that cysts are not always the cause of seizures; however, they can be.

Would really love to know other people's experiences with this. I am especially interested in hearing from people who have done surgery to have a cyst drained or removed and what the outcome was.

 

[Starburst]

My son is 18 years old, by the way.

 

[Nakamova]

Hi Starburst --

I found one CWE thread from a member who has a temporal lobe arachnoid cyst. He doesn't mention having surgery though, just treatment with meds:
http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f20/hi-uk-15633/

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Hi Starburst

I have an arachnoid cyst which is according to doctors not doing anything and I have another cyst which apparently is some kind of other cyst. I don't think I'd be considered for surgery or draining because my Cyst is right in the centre of my brain and my seizures are for the most part controlled. Also I'm not sure if it's the same in your sons case but, the cyst has caused atrophy in the area around it, it's the atrophy the cyst has caused rather than the cyst itself causing my seizures. Removing or draining the cyst wouldn't fix the atrophy.

 

[qtowngirl]

hi starburst,
i have an arachnoid cyst which they found when trying to diagnose after two grand mals.
i didn't have enough action on the eeg's to find my seizure focus so he wasn't too keen on saying it was the cause, they could have been two inches apart for all we knew.
i have left temporal lobe E, the cyst is more mesial and anterior. after a few years of seizures and no change in the cyst he said it was likely there since birth, that arachnoids are common from birth and no harm to me. just to be safe i was sent to a surgeon who agreed and due to risk of surgery we would just keep an eye on it for changes.

That was almost 10 years ago and it's never been a problem. recently went to the seizure unit in an epilepsy clinic as my szs were getting so much worse, and they found a lesion nowhere near the cyst, but did their own investigating of the cyst as possible cause. was ruled out entirely.

i've always been reassured the cyst is of no harm to me, and that if it happens to burst and drain on its own that would be great news, as the risk of surgery is way too high without KNOWING it's the reason for your epilepsy. the surgeons' exact quote: "i'm not putting you on the table when there's a 50/50 chance you won't come off. let's just keep an eye on it."