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Neurology (Expert Forum)
Arachnoid cyst - recovery from a shunt
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Arachnoid cyst - recovery from a shunt
by col6464, Dec 11, 2003 12:00AM
Hello,
My mother was diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst about 10 years ago. Its very large with most doctors saying that they have never seen one that big. She has all the symptoms: headaches, seizures, stability issues. She's also been a Type I diabetic for over 30 years and has never been in the best of help. She has always been afraid of any neurosurgury and doctors have mostly advised against surgury (for a shunt) due to complications with her diabetes. Her symptoms have slowly gotten worse and worse, headaches that last for days, seizures even though her anti-convulsive levels are high. After a fall 2 months ago her memory has been severely affected as well as her ability to talk, walk and function. After much deliberation she decided to move ahead with a shunt, surgury was performed 4 days ago. My questions have to do with recovery, we have not been able to speak with the surgeon (its hard to track him down)but her condition doesn't really seem to be better (an outcome the doctor said was possible). How do patients normally recover from a shunt ? Should you be able to see a reduction in the cyst (via CT or MRI scans) after a few days ? She's going to be discharged soon and go into a rehab center. At the center they told us that she will be doing 3 hours of rehab a day, but there's just no way she could handle that (at least now).
Thanks.
My mother was diagnosed with an arachnoid cyst about 10 years ago. Its very large with most doctors saying that they have never seen one that big. She has all the symptoms: headaches, seizures, stability issues. She's also been a Type I diabetic for over 30 years and has never been in the best of help. She has always been afraid of any neurosurgury and doctors have mostly advised against surgury (for a shunt) due to complications with her diabetes. Her symptoms have slowly gotten worse and worse, headaches that last for days, seizures even though her anti-convulsive levels are high. After a fall 2 months ago her memory has been severely affected as well as her ability to talk, walk and function. After much deliberation she decided to move ahead with a shunt, surgury was performed 4 days ago. My questions have to do with recovery, we have not been able to speak with the surgeon (its hard to track him down)but her condition doesn't really seem to be better (an outcome the doctor said was possible). How do patients normally recover from a shunt ? Should you be able to see a reduction in the cyst (via CT or MRI scans) after a few days ? She's going to be discharged soon and go into a rehab center. At the center they told us that she will be doing 3 hours of rehab a day, but there's just no way she could handle that (at least now).
Thanks.
Doctor's Answer
by CCF-Neuro-M.D.-CS, Dec 14, 2003 12:00AM
The recovery from a shunt surgery is variable. If the cyst caused permanent damage then decreasing its size with a shunt will not reverse the damage. However if the cyst was just interupting certain functions, then over days to weeks we would hope that things would improve. A follow-up scan may show a reduction in the size, but the important thing is that the pressure has been released, and hopefully no further damage will occur. Rehabilitation is important and she should be encouraged to participate as much as possible. Good luck.
