Author Topic: 10 cm AN?  (Read 6050 times)

jbbrown15

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10 cm AN?
« on: February 14, 2013, 02:37:52 pm »
Is it possible?
Jean
2.9 cm AN on left side diagnosed 9/9/2010
Finished 26 sessions of fractionated stereotactic radiation on 11/22/2010
Symptoms of increased intracranial pressure since summer of 2010. Trying to determine if related to AN.  Some good doctors say yes, some good doctors say no.

Tumbleweed

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #1 on: February 14, 2013, 08:24:21 pm »
I doubt it. A 10cm dimension along the transverse (horizontal axis), for example, would take up at least half the width of a person's normal-size head, leading to severe brainstem compression. I think they would probably be dead before it got that large. The largest AN I've heard reported was a little over 6 cm, referred to as a giant schwanomma.

Why do you ask?

TW
L. AN 18x12x9 mm @ diagnosis, 11/07
21x13x11 mm @ CK treatment 7/11/08 (Drs. Chang & Gibbs, Stanford)
21x15x13 mm in 12/08 (5 months post-CK), widespread necrosis, swelling
12x9x6 mm, Nov. 2017; shrank ~78% since treatment!
W&W on stable 6mm hypoglossal tumor found 12/08

jbbrown15

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #2 on: February 14, 2013, 09:01:08 pm »
Heard about an acquaintance of a friend and that was the size reported. I think there's some miscommunication or misunderstanding.
Jean
2.9 cm AN on left side diagnosed 9/9/2010
Finished 26 sessions of fractionated stereotactic radiation on 11/22/2010
Symptoms of increased intracranial pressure since summer of 2010. Trying to determine if related to AN.  Some good doctors say yes, some good doctors say no.

PaulW

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2013, 12:01:52 pm »
10mm much more likely.

The biggest I have ever heard of is 8cm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LM4Z78x_O80

10x5x5mm AN
Sudden Partial hearing loss 5/28/10
Diagnosed 7/4/10
CK 7/27/10
2/21/11 Swelling 13x6x7mm
10/16/11 Hearing returned, balance improved. Feel totally back to normal most days
3/1/12 Sudden Hearing loss, steroids, hearing back.
9/16/13 Life is just like before my AN. ALL Good!

Jim Scott

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2013, 01:14:55 pm »
Although most Americans don't use the metric system of measurement - the medical profession does.  This can generate some confusion when discussing AN dimensions.  These forums often see a newly diagnosed AN patient mistakenly state their tumor size in centimeters when the measurement they give is (obviously) millimeters, e.g. 10 cm instead of 10mm.  That is easily corrected.  Once you understand the difference between millimeters and centimeters (something I had to quickly learn when diagnosed) stating your AN size accurately becomes routine and allows you to spot the error when another poster mistakenly states an unrealistically large number as their AN size.

Jim   
4.5 cm AN diagnosed 5/06.  Retrosigmoid surgery 6/06.  Follow-up FSR completed 10/06.  Tumor shrinkage & necrosis noted on last MRI.  Life is good. 

Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is.  The way we cope with it is what makes the difference.

arizonajack

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2013, 08:05:13 pm »
10 cm in diameter is the size of a grapefruit.

That could be referring to volume (ccm) and not dimensions.

2.15cm x 2.15cm x 2.15cm = 9.9 ccm.

Makes a little more sense that way.

3/15/18 12mm x 6mm x5mm
9/21/16 12mm x 7mm x 5mm
3/23/15 12mm x 5.5mm x 4mm
3/13/14 12mm x 6mm x 4mm
8/1/13 14mm x 5mm x 4mm (Expected)
1/22/13 12mm x 3mm (Gamma Knife)
10/10/12 11mm x 4mm x 5mm
4/4/12 9mm x 4mm x 3mm (Diagnosis)

My story at: http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=18287.0

mikechinnock

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #6 on: February 16, 2013, 12:00:53 pm »
Size can be an interesting concept. My surgeon defined my AN as the size of a very large plum that had not only impacted the brain stem, but had sent runners out like the  arms of an octopus. I estimate my tumor was on the order of 8 cm and had really intruded into the brain stem. As someone noted above a 10 cm AN would most likely result in severe brain stem compression. It took two ten hour surgeries just to deal with the portion that impacted the brain stem and the runner that went upwards from there. I think a 10 cm AN would be very unlikely unless runners were involved and had spread out.
In the valley of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

mk

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2013, 06:59:35 pm »
10 cm in diameter is the size of a grapefruit.

That could be referring to volume (ccm) and not dimensions.

2.15cm x 2.15cm x 2.15cm = 9.9 ccm.

Makes a little more sense that way.

Just a small correction: The formula for calculating the volume is pi/6 x (diameter1)x(diameter2)x(diameter3). So for a 2.15 cm diameter the volume would be pi/6 x (2.15^3)=5.2 cc. A volume of 10 cc corresponds approximately to an AN 3 cm in diameter.

On another note, I didn't know that ANs can have "runners" that spread out. I thought that this is more a characteristic of malignant tumors and that benign tumors have the characteristic spheroid or oval "well contained" shape (I think that this was the term that the radiologist used).

Marianna
GK on April 23rd 2008 for 2.9 cm AN at Toronto Western Hospital. Subsequent MRIs showed darkening initially, then growth. Retrosigmoid surgery on April 26th, 2011 with Drs. Akagami and Westerberg at Vancouver General Hospital. Graduallly lost hearing after GK and now SSD but no other issues.

mikechinnock

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #8 on: February 17, 2013, 12:48:19 am »
I am not a doctor neurologist, or neurosurgeon. However my AN was benign and I recall my neurosurgeon describing runners, one of which penetrated the dura/tentorium as I recall the terms. This the one that required a fourth craniotomy, and another ten hours of surgery.
In the valley of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

ppearl214

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #9 on: February 17, 2013, 07:06:54 am »
A user here, named "satman" had an 8cm growth.  Can find some info here in what he has shared:

http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=7402.0

I'm not ruling out potential of a 10cm and keeping in mind these discussion forums is a sampling of AN'ers.... not all AN'ers are active on these forums.

I never say never.....

Phyl
"Gentlemen, I wash my hands of this weirdness", Capt Jack Sparrow - Davy Jones Locker, "Pirates of the Carribbean - At World's End"

mikechinnock

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #10 on: February 17, 2013, 10:41:45 pm »
satman post was an interesting read. I too was diagnosed with a meningioma. Location was at the site where the surgeon pierced the meninges.
In the valley of the blind, the one eyed man is king.

arizonajack

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Re: 10 cm AN?
« Reply #11 on: February 18, 2013, 11:43:53 am »
10 cm in diameter is the size of a grapefruit.

That could be referring to volume (ccm) and not dimensions.

2.15cm x 2.15cm x 2.15cm = 9.9 ccm.

Makes a little more sense that way.

Just a small correction: The formula for calculating the volume is pi/6 x (diameter1)x(diameter2)x(diameter3). So for a 2.15 cm diameter the volume would be pi/6 x (2.15^3)=5.2 cc. A volume of 10 cc corresponds approximately to an AN 3 cm in diameter.


I was postulating a cubical tumor, not a spherical tumor.  ;D
3/15/18 12mm x 6mm x5mm
9/21/16 12mm x 7mm x 5mm
3/23/15 12mm x 5.5mm x 4mm
3/13/14 12mm x 6mm x 4mm
8/1/13 14mm x 5mm x 4mm (Expected)
1/22/13 12mm x 3mm (Gamma Knife)
10/10/12 11mm x 4mm x 5mm
4/4/12 9mm x 4mm x 3mm (Diagnosis)

My story at: http://www.anausa.org/smf/index.php?topic=18287.0