9.03.2009

MRI & EEG results are in

MRI is normal. EEG is abnormal. Nothing physically wrong, but neurologically, his right temporal lobe has periods of lower functioning. She said the 'slowing' w/o physical evidence of damage [via MRI] shows her that he basically is at a higher risk of seizure, but no guarantee & it more likely just paints a picture of what we already know. Some of the difficulties of Rt temporal lobe dysfunction would include: 1) disturbance of auditory sensation and perception, 2) disturbance of selective attention of auditory and visual input, 3) disorders of visual perception, 4) impaired organization and categorization of verbal material, 5) disturbance of language comprehension, 6) impaired long-term memory, 7) altered personality and affective behavior

Hey. That fits.

I really loved the neuro. She explained everything in plain language. Did a thorough exam, and took time for us to explain 2 situations in which we felt he really may have had a seizure. She agreed they concerned her, but since she doesn't see permanent damage, she won't be interested in a longer (48 hour) EEG unless he has another episode that is concerning including no arousal from physical touch. That all made me feel better.

And, to top the cake with a cherry, she is very interested in further autism research and will keep his 'case' open in the event there are any breakthroughs with research pertaining to genetics, brain studies, etc... She said that if they find out anything groundbreaking in the near future, they likely have all the info they need, and just don't know to look at it. So they would use existing data first.

The last thing she is going to do is get the genetics testing back from that hospital and make sure they did/found what she would have sent out for. Since he had ear tags, they look to see if there was any genetic reason for him to have a mutation.

Sounds thorough to me. She put to rest some of my questions including the possibility of brain damage from birth via vacuum. She said his brain is HEALTHY as it can be and there is no sign of ANY damage of ANY type from fall, bump, etc..

3 comments:

Laura said...

fascinating! Yeah, that does sound familiar, in terms of the difficulties. I can't even get an apt for a neuro.

Chelli said...

That is very interesting! My son will be 3 in December. We have an appointment for a neuro evaluation and EEG on October 6. I'm curious to see how that goes.

Anonymous said...

Glad that the neuro took time with you, and glad that the results for the most part are good. What continues to astound me is how much our kids are able to accomplish even with "periods of lower functioning" in their temproal lobes. Our kids are amazing!