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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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MRI Brain Scan Done Due To Orthostatic Hypotension, Syncope, Memory Loss. What Does Report Mean?

I am a 53 year old female have Systemic Lupus with numerous other conditions such as Sjogrens, Raynauds, Vasculitis , Pleurisy ...on and on, for over 33 years now. Due to a recent diagnosis of Orthostatic Hypotension , syncope and my complaints of memory loss and cognitive function, I had an MRI brain scan recently with the following findings: There is mild diffuse cerebral volume loss. There are a few scattered nonspecific FLAIR hyperintensities in the periventricular and subcortical white matter. In addition, there is a somewhat linear hyperintensity noted in the pons that demonstrates high signal on T2 and low on T1 signal intensity. Further evaluation is recommended with MRI of the neck with and without contrast. What does this mean in layman s terms? Thank You.
Tue, 12 Feb 2013
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Neurologist 's  Response
Dear patient

To answer your query the MRI findings are suggestive of small vessel disease. To simplify further it means that the smaller vessels of deep brain matter have decrease in lumen size which results in hampered blood supply resulting in the changes described. It is most commonly seen in patients with long standing hypertension and as in your case due to vasculitis. I can definitely say these are not responsible for your ortho static hypotension which can most likely to be due to autonomic neuropathy which is seen in Sjögren's syndrome.
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MRI Brain Scan Done Due To Orthostatic Hypotension, Syncope, Memory Loss. What Does Report Mean?

Dear patient To answer your query the MRI findings are suggestive of small vessel disease. To simplify further it means that the smaller vessels of deep brain matter have decrease in lumen size which results in hampered blood supply resulting in the changes described. It is most commonly seen in patients with long standing hypertension and as in your case due to vasculitis. I can definitely say these are not responsible for your ortho static hypotension which can most likely to be due to autonomic neuropathy which is seen in Sjögren s syndrome.