What does epilepsy "look like" on CTA?

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ramona11

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I think I posted this in the wrong place earlier today. Still getting used to the forum. ;-) I am gathering my records and getting ready for a new neurologist appointment and I noticed something a different between a CTA done in November and one done in December of last year. Now, granted, the second one was done at Mayo Clinic and is likely to just be a LOT more high tech, but it was also done after my "seizure like" episodes started happening. This is the phrase that I was wondering about, as I don't understand all of the medical terminology.

Large amount of calcification along the anterior falx. Apparent extra-axial hypodensity adjacent to the left frontal lobe appears artifactual in nature and related to calvarial contour of this region.

There was nothing mentioned in previous CTA reports about any calcification at all - I am assuming that is just the higher Mayo technology, since it would be a slow process. But what about the hypodense area? It was not mentioned in the previous CTA either.

The contour thing makes me think it is not significant? Not sure if I spelled all of those words correctly, but does any of that sound significant or in any way related to seizure activity? I am trying to determine whether to take all of the copies of my MRI's to my appt or just the most recent.

Thanks
Ramona
 
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Doing a bit of research on my own - does that "artifact" just meant that I moved during the test?
 
You really need to speak to your neurologist about the interpretation of the results and not us amateurs! It is easy to fall into the trap of "over-interpreting" results when we do our own research, and then thinking everything commented on in the reported is an abnormality when really the observations of what is observed in the scan are normal variances.
 
Each Person Needs To Speak With a Professional!

Ramona,
A person can do self-research, but many times that person is going to be seeing too many big medical terms in too short of a time to get a full understanding of each one. You may see each term and think that you are getting an good understanding of each of them. The best thing that you can do is write each of the terms that you feel has something to do with your case down and ask your new neurologist about each of them. If anyone is going to be able to answer your questions or get answers to the way that each of these things may be connected to your case it would be the neurologist. If the neurologist can't answer a question they certainly will know someone who can give them the answer!
Having a list of questions with you when you go to see your neurologist is something that could be very important. Having a list like that is also going to show the neurologist that you really care about what is happening with your case. This will show that they can't deal with your case in a lackadaisical way because you would find out if they did! :twocents:

Good luck when you see your new neurologist,
ACsHuman
 
Yeah, I can see that I am not making any sense out of them myself - that is for sure! LOL I think I will just take the ones from Mayo and the CTA's that were done recently here, plus the EEG's - sent off for those today. I haven't even seen them yet, so I have no idea what the reports say. Was just told that they were "basically normal".

Was in the ER last night with a seizure like episode that just kept going and going.... I don't understand why most last just one or two minutes but then twice they have lasted for hours - VERY uncomfortable. At least they said in the ER that nothing was life threatening - just take benadryl if it happens again and wait until I see the neuro. Ha, funny thing is that the benadryl didn't stop the head shaking - it just made me groggy.

Thanks!
Ramona
 
! ! ! Will take time ! ! !

Ramona,
One thing that you will find out about E is that it is something that isn't going to be diagnosed and treated right away. Many times finding a treatment program for a person's E can be a hit and miss procedure! This is because of the huge number of variations that exist between the different cases. The doctor can only try what they feel may be a way of treatment. If that doesn't work they have to try something else. This is the only way that they can try to find a treatment that may work for someone.
This is because there are billions of cells in the brains and each bad connection between some cells can cause a different seizure. Some people are lucky enough to have a treatment prescribed that works right away, :ponder:

ACsHuman
 
Thanks so much. I should know this, after having been through the diagnostic mill with my dystonia. I have just been thrown for a loop with this new set of strange symptoms and it is hard to be patient and wait to talk to someone who might be able to put some of the puzzle pieces together. Oh, the episodes seems to be coming in waves today, one right after the other. I hope that is not how the whole day is going to be... I am barely recovering from one before another one comes. Just feels so weird...

Love your avatar, btw. I am a nature photographer and was "focusing" on hummingbirds before all of this possible seizure stuff started. Miss those buggers, as we had to move away from my "hummer haven" and into an apartment.
 
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