New here, with questions.

[technigirl]

Hi all!
I'm new to the forum and it looks like a nice supportive group here. I have an upcoming MRI to look for an acoustic neuroma and I have a few questions for you all.

My story is as follows: about 2 months ago, literally overnight, I developed constant tinnitus in my left ear, with no other noticeable symptoms. I waited a bit hoping it would go away, but it didn't, so I made an appointment with an ENT. They tested my hearing and found that I had moderate high frequency hearing loss in that ear only, though I hadn't noticed the hearing loss (and still don't).

The ENT mentioned acoustic neuroma as a possibility and ordered an MRI, which I have scheduled for this upcoming Friday, Dec 20.

The strange thing is that I had a contrast brain MRI in Feb of this past year for an unrelated thing, and it was deemed normal. I told my ENT about it and he pulled those MRI results, and said he also doesn't see any issues on that MRI, but because it wasn't done specifically for my ear, he wants me to do another one. I understand that he would like to get clearer pictures of my ear, so it makes sense to me, somewhat.

So my question is, could an AN have cropped up in the 6 months or so between Feb and when I acquired the tinnitus? I thought they were slow growing but can they grow that quickly in some cases?
Could an AN, perhaps a small one, have been missed on the Feb MRI despite it having been looked at by at least 2 doctors now?

I'm really nervous about this. Thanks for listening!

[donjehle]

Hi technigirl, and welcome to the ANA Forums!

I am not a physician, so I can only speak from my perspective.  When I had my first MRI, the radiologist did not spot my acoustic neuroma.  My ENT looked at the images, and he saw it.  He then contacted the radiologist and told him exactly where to look, and then the radiologist saw it.  So, on your previous MRI, since it was done for something unrelated, they probably were not looking carefully for an acoustic neuroma, especially if it is small.

I asked my ENT how the radiologist could have initially missed my acoustic neuroma, and he said they are not always easy to spot.  He said a lot depends upon the quality of the MRI machines (some apparently produce much better images).  And it may also depend on how the tumor is captured in the MRI 'slices'.  I must admit that I do not understand much about it other than they may need to to do an MRI specificially near the area of your ear and make sure the 'slices' are done in such a way that a small acoustic neuroma could be spotted.

So, I fully understand how your ENT would want to see a very detailed image where an acoustic neuroma would be (if it is there).  I appreciate this about your ENT -- because if he does not spot an acoustic neuroma from an MRI which is focused on the right area, then you can sleep well knowing that you do not have an acoustic neuroma.  And there is a good possibility that you do not have one, or if you do, that it is very small.

If I had relied on the original interpretation of the radiologist, I would have thought I did not have an acoustic neuroma.  But fortunately, my ENT was more knowledgeable about acoustic neuromas and knew exactly where to look.  For my next MRI, my neurosurgeon wanted my MRI to be done on a better MRI machine which had finer resolution.  And he had no problem seeing it clearly on the second MRI.

Please keep us posted on what your second MRI reveals or doesn't show!
Don

[technigirl]

Thank you, I appreciate your response. This is great information. I do appreciate that my ENT seems to be very on top of things. I'll definitely post an update here once I get my MRI results.

[donjehle]

Any update, technigirl?

I'm curious what the MRI done three weeks ago showed or didn't show.