Hi everyone,

A friend recommended I do this so here I am.

I just got some MRI results today and I must say I'm freaking out. They need to run more tests (two more MRIs with contrast dye - one in veins, other directly in arteries) and blood tests.

The results read as follow:

Soft tissue lesion in the central skull base anterior to the foramen ovale and probably involving the vidian canal. The possible differential diagnosis would include mucocele or nerve sheath tumor.

The doctor told me there was something wrong with my circle of Willis.

I don't speak doctor so it's hard for me to understand what it means exactly. The doctor is referring me to a neurosurgeon and they are scheduling the next tests urgently.

If anyone has any idea of what it all means or anything related to these results, I would really appreciate it.


Leeloo

Welcome to NeuroTalk:

There aren't any neurologists here that I know of, who could
advise you in detail. This is mostly a patient centered support group.

I do know that the circle of Willis is a blood vessel that occurs at the base of the brain. Sometimes it is involved with strokes.

This wiki article has pictures and explains:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_Willis

Anything that would compress this arterial system, could therefore be problematic.

1. Your circle of Willis is what is used to describe the collateral arteries that connect the four major arteries that supply your brain with blood. Something wrong with your circle of willis could mean a lot of things however having an incomplete circle of Willis is totally normal. The intersection between your communicating arteries and your major arteries is where most aneurysms form and THAT would or could be considered something "wrong" with your circle of willis however, it only makes sense that they would say you have an aneurysm. My money is on the fact that you probably have an incomplete circle of Willis meaning one of them is just not there. When I had an MRI to look for aneurysms 8 years ago the doctors told me that I have zero communicating arteries thus I don't even have an incomplete circle of Willis lol. Having no communicating arteries in my brain means that if one of my major arteries becomes blocked I can bend over and kiss my *** goodbye because there aren't any collateral arteries that would circumvent the blockage and allow blood flow to that section of my brain. Having said that.. I haven't lost any sleep worrying about it.

2. A stat appointment with a neurosurgeon means they want him to evaluate that tumor for surgical removal. Neurosurgery has advanced with leaps and bounds in the past 20 years and should not be considered any scarier than any other major surgery.. in fact I would be more comfortable with neurosurgery than I would with other types of surgery because only the best of the best are neurosurgeons. I would be concerned about the tumor and what that outcome could be but until they get in and look at it I wouldn't worry too much.. most of the times these things are nothing.

Hope this helps!