When my mother went to treat her ear infection due to hole in the ear (that was supposed to be operated next week), doc did CT scan and found couple of white spots on Brain & skull. They suspected it to be metastasis & suspect the cancer may be in advance stage. They have advised to take MRI, bone/blood tests, the results are awaited.
They did check kidney, uterus which are clear. Also, my mother was done CT scan 4 months back as she had high BP & a suspected minor stroke, at that time there were no spots found on skull or brain.

Right now, we are waiting on the MRI & blood/bone reports. Also, since yesterday my mother is in "confusion" states. She blabbers few words. Though she recognizes people around and call them with right name, she keeps talking things that are 5 days old or her day-to-day activity stuff.

She was a very patient & always excited (over-excited if you will) lady. However, after my father's demise one year back, she kept herself in the house most of the time. Sometime we could sense she had become less forgiving and more sensitive to any talks/things around. She is 62 years old & has weezing problem since 15 years and no other known medical conditions. However, when they did ultrasound to find if any part of the body has cancer tumor they found an unrelated issue that of Hernia & no tumor was found in this ultrasound tests.


We are all worried as to what it is. Can you folks please through few lights on this one
1. Is there a chance that this is not cancerous?
2. Can we relate this to Dementia?
3. Even if this is cancerous can we say it is not in advanced stage?
4. What are the possible treatments?

Thanks in advance for any help I get.

Raj

Hello Raj,

I wish I could put your mind at rest, but without knowing her medical history, or seeing her scan, I can't. Only her doctor can do that because only he/she has all facts at their disposal; all the parts of the jigsaw puzzle so to speak.

You asked if the spots on her brain could be something other than cancer. Without a known tumor somewhere else in her body, then yes ... it is possible. If she is thought to have (say) lung cancer, then spots in her brain then become more sinister.

There are many conditions that put spots up there. I have them, and I have MS. People who suffer from migraines get them. Those with dementia get them. To make a diagnosis from looking at the spots on a scan, then the whole medical history must be known, and a physical examination should be performed by a doctor who has all these facts at his/her finger tips. Only then can a diagnosis be made.

Can it be related to dementia? Yes it can, BUT there has to be other things present as well. A history of many mini strokes, (or TIAs) will show up as spots on the brain and can cause dementia. There are usually a lot of these spots and their position in the brain relate directly to the behaviour of the person.

You also asked if there any treatment available. I'm sorry but I cannot answer that. Treatment and prognosis depend entirely on what the diagnosis is, and so far your mother doesn't seem to have one.

I'm sorry that I've not been able to help you with the questions you most wanted answers to, but I do hope that your mother gets a diagnosis soon, and that's it's not a life threatening one.

Hello Koala77,

Thanks for your reply. The MRI report came in, however the image is blurr as mother has shaken a bit, they will conduct one more tomorrow.

the neurosurgen has indicated, this may not be cancerous and attributed it to abscess that has occured because of ear infection. He says it is in early stage and started giving her anti-biotics.

Anyone has more information on abscess?

My mother is now slowly recovering back to normacy. She could able to talk recognize the place. She is slowly moving out of "confusion mind".

Doctor says it was related to the abscess & nothing to worry. In fact he suggested we can bring her home and give medicines at home.

He however, wants to rule out any remote possibility of having a primary somewhere, so they will be doing ultrasound of lower abdomen & if required needle biopsy of the cells from brain.

This is very confusing for your mother and you.

Spots on the brain can come from many things.

If they used the fluroquinolone antibiotics on the ear infection
like Cipro or Levaquin? These cause confusional states in the elderly. High doses especially provoke older patients.

There are other drug combos that will do this too. If you'd like I can try and evaluate that for you. But since she is getting better, you may not need that.

With cancer, I have seen patients where the "primary lesion" is gone, and only the metastasis remains. That is because the body has some ability to get rid of cancer cells. This ability is less in the brain.

But as Koala says, TIAs, strokes, MS, even some parasites like from pork, can appear as spots in the brain. So time will tell what is going on with your mom.

Severe depression can appear to be like dementia. When the depression is treated, the dementia-like features often go away.

I hope things continue to improve for her.

Hello! Just as info... I have spots on my brain which the neurologists originally thought was MS. Specialist ruled that out because of the type of lesions; looked more like old age spots. He told me I have the brain of an 80 year old; I am 59. The body is a complicated maze and it seems there is no easy answer for any ailment. Took an army of doctors to diagnose pernicious anemia in an extreme state. Perhaps that caused the damage. I'll never know; I just know I have to learn to live with it. It sounds as though your Mom is improving and for that I am happy for you. Keep the faith; things do turn around for the better even when unexpected.

Thanks for all the replies.

My mother is back in hospital now. They will conduct another MRI to determine the conditions. One of the neurologist suggested as the spots are found on skull & brain he cannot rule out the possibility of the metastasis, he says until they do biopsy they cannot ruleout any possibilities.

My mother general health conditions has improved considerably, she still has "confusion mind" sometime she looks alright and sometime blabbering. Because of the high dosage medicines or may be some other reason she had stomach ache, now an ultrasound of the stomach was done and again it came back normal. Tomorrow they will do MRI to determine how the progress is, doc will take next step of action post that.

It is just agonizing period for us, we are just praying and hoping for a speedy recovery.

Many drugs cause a delirium in the elderly. Simple ones like Zantac and Pepcid. Sometimes a combination of drugs, will do this...like Ditropan or any other anticholinergic drug combined with something else (for bladder control).

If you PM me her medication list, I'll look it over.

Has she been tested for low B12? This will also cause mental confusion when low. USA doctors for some strange reason think 200's is normal when it is really LOW by other countries' standards. It should be 500 or above. So getting this tested is really important.