ENT Diagnosed AN. Which Neurologist to SEE in DMV area?

[waldo1308]

ENT Diagnosed AN. Which Neurologist to SEE in DMV area?

[Mark F.]

I assume you mean Delaware/Maryland/Virginia.  And if you are leaning towards  surgery, I 100 percent recommend John's Hopkins.  They have excellent neurosurgeons and I even developed a throat infection after surgery that the care team there caught right away and prevented it from becoming a much worse issue.  They also have headache clinics with excellent neurologists as well.  I wouldn't go with someone just because they are close to home.  I drove past several hospitals as I live 2 hours away from Hopkins.   But I wouldn't trust my brain surgery to a place that doesn't do that on a regular basis.

[waldo1308]

D.C, Maryland, Virginia. Thanks! I have United Health care. For John Hopkins, it’s out of network. The general MRI shows 9.1mm, I was told that is considered small.

[Mark F.]

That is considered small, but it's honestly more about location, symptoms, and growth rate than size.  Mine was only 1.5 cm (15mm) when it was removed, but I was very symptomatic, and at the end it had grown 2 mm in 6 weeks.   My ENT only had three suggestions for treatment places that he recommended to me: Johns Hopkins, Hershey Medical Center, and Georgetown University Hospital.  I went to Hopkins and Hershey for opinions.  I wanted the surgery, and Hopkins recommended it, Hershey was stuck on radiation which I really didn't want, but if you are open to it, Hershey was a nice place and the people seemed knowledgeable, just not my preferred method.  I never went to Georgetown, but I trust the opinion of my ENT that they would make a good choice as well.

[waldo1308]

Thanks Mark! So far my symptoms are tinnitus and hearing loss. Word recognition on my AN side is 94%. What about UVA in Charlottesville, Virginia? It comes up more often when search about Acoustic Neuroma.

[Mark F.]

I didn't look as far away as Charlottesville.  I actually live in Western Maryland, Washington County.  So I only looked as far as the Baltimore/DC areas.  As long as they have a good history of treating Acoustic Neuromas, they would be worth checking into.  I would definitely suggest multiple opinions though, because it never hurts to make sure others would be on the same page.