Hello there, do you suffer from CSF? The last time I was saw my neurologist, he reviewed two MRIs, one of my brain and one of my neck. He mentioned CSF not by name by by description. He showed me some images too. He briefly described surgical treatment to remove some of the fluid, but the subject was left there, no decision was made.
Maybe I should rattle his cage? What do you think?
Have any VEDA members been through this procedure? You comments on your experiecne could be valuable.
Peter.
A few months ago I was diagnosed with a vestibular dysfunction ("superior vestibular nerve/utricle dysfunction"). Went for all kinds of tests, including a brain/C-spine MRI where the radiologists claimed everything was basically normal ("unremarkable").
Given that it's still a mystery to me as to how the vestibular dysfunction came about, I needed to keep investigating. Last week I managed to organize a Skype consultation with a foreign physiotherapist trained in reading medical imaging to review my MRI, and apparently my MRI isn't so normal after all. I have:
- Potential blockage (not sure if intermittent or constant) of one of the important veins that drains from my brain into my jugular (the "sigmoid sinus vein").
- Clear evidence of increased cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pressure ("empty sella sign").
- Tarlov cysts in my C-spine (apparently these can form when CSF pressure gets too high - they're basically bulging nerve roots).
- My internal jugular vein is clearly being compressed by one of my vertebra (could be due to bad posture/weak neck muscles). This apparently can cause intermittent increases in blood (and therefore CSF) pressure inside my head.
According to this physiotherapist, in his experience, increased intracranial pressure can cause problems in the blood vessels in the vestibular system, causing vestibular dysfunction.
I've requested that my doctor ask one of the local radiologists to review my MRI again, so hopefully I can convince them to do some further investigation. Trouble is I don't have the typical signs of increased CSF pressure, which leads me to believe that it's an intermittent phenomenon (and more pronounced when my head/neck are in certain positions), so I get the sense getting a diagnosis is going to be tough.
Has anyone had any similar experience in developing a vestibular dysfunction from increased intracranial pressure, or this intermittent increased CSF pressure problem? If so, how did you go about dealing with it?
Hi could you please give us an update? I also wonder what's causing my vestibular nerve dysfunction.
Your observations and request for a re-analysis of the MRI seem reasonable given the new evidence of possible problems. It may be worth contacting a specialist who specializes in neurological disorders or intracranial pressure diagnosis to get a second opinion and recommendations for further evaluation and treatment.
