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Left Vertebral Artery is Dominant!

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JWW:
I had my second MRI after SRS for my AN (July 31, 2012) this past August 11, 2014.
It is now 1 cm longitudinal by 8.1 mm greatest AP dimension by 7 mm height. Necrotic region measures 2mm in diameter. There is increased signal in the left membranous labyrinth on the FLAIR images suggesting proteinaceous fluid and post treatment changes.

The rest of the brain is stable. The left veterbral artery is dominant.

I have been looking up "left vertebral artery is dominant" and I am panicking because I feel that means I am one step from having a stroke! Scared. I see the doctor on August the 25th. Since the doctor has not called, I assume I am OK?

I have been taking Sudafed 30 mg. daily for months trying to keep my head from feeling congested. I have lost a lot of my hearing in the AN side since last year. It was excellent before.

Has anyone every had " Left Vertebral Artery is Dominant" on their MRI before?

JWW

ANGuy:
I have no idea what this language in the report means.  But, I would not worry about it at all until your Dr tells you to worry about it.  Very often these types of notations have no bearing on anything and are simply things that the radiologist made note of.  There is enough worrisome stuff on our plates already that we don't need to go out of our way to find things to worry about.

On my first MRI was a notation about some type of "scattered focci T-2 something or other".  I googled it and the terminology is used to describe issues involving strokes.  I just about gave myself a stroke reading all of the stuff on the internet.  When I got to the nuero and asked him, he told me that the "scattered" part meant that it was NOT a sign of a stroke and that in his opinion, which is more valuable than the radiologist, there was no sign of the stuff in the images anyway.  Basically, he was politely saying that the radiologist was incorrect and even irresponsible for putting it in the report.

So, don't worry about it unless your Dr tells you to worry about it.

JWW:
Thanks ANGuy!!!

PaulW:
Ask your doctor about this...
This is my understanding of it...
I am not a doctor.
Apparently about 4% of the population are born with one artery bigger than the other.
Apparently this is not a problem.... Unless your right artery is too small.
They didn't mention this in the MRI so that's good..

It is thought that being born with arteries of different size may increase the risk of migraine and vestibular problems. Investigation into increased stroke risk is continuing but not conclusive.
The important thing here is that it increases your risk factor... It doesn't mean you will get it.

JWW:
Thank you for your input PaulW.....I really appreciate what you said.

Another question for you Paul, since I have lost half of my hearing in my AN side in one year (going from excellent), I am going to ask my radiation oncologist on Monday if I should try a dose pack of steroids to bring it back? There is fluid in the AN area and 2 mm of necrotic area. Taking that in to consideration, one of my AN dimensions increased from 6 mm to 8 mm most likely from the necrotic area pushing on the existing left over AN.

The drawback of getting my hearing back is: 1. I will hear my husband snore at night (lol) 2. The TV will bother me more when I am on the computer! (lol)

JWW

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