lesion on brain stem

[kelbell2]

If you have MS and you have a lesion on the Brain Stem is it easily identifiable?
Do they act like lesions in other parts of the Brain and/or Spinal Cord in which they can be hard to detect
Is there anybody here that has been diagnosed with MS with a brain stem tumor? If so, what are the symptoms, especially as far as pain in concerned?   thanks, Kel

[karryon55]

Hi Alex, I have been told that my vertigo, double vision, tinnitus "could" all be from the Pons lesion as well.

Hi Kel, I just wanted to clarify that in the original question the words lesion & tumour were used & I have tried to answer the question as it is worded. If you could clarify the wording of the question....because a lesion & a tumour are very different. Thanks Karry.

[HVAC]

Brain stem lesions can have many different symptoms. Mine causes me to have double vision and vertigo. They can tell with a simple Neurological exam if you have brain stem involvement. They knew I had brain stem involvement back in 1965 before the MRI was invented. My reflexes, eye tracking, etc. were all off.

I saw pons lesion on my first MRI and freaked out. It looked so scary on the internet when I looked it up. I have since been told by several neurologist it is not as scary as the internet makes it out to be. Years ago a Neurologist told me I had something that would kill me like an aneurysm because of my Neurological exam. Turned out he was wrong I just had MS. I have had pons damage because of MS for 48 years and am basically stable. Each case of MS is different.

Alex

[immisceo]

It's possible, but not in every case. If you present with something like internuclear opthalmoplegia, you almost certainly have lesions involving the brain stem. They were able to tell me 'brainstem' based on my exam alone (later confirmed by MRI)

Some clinical signs just have an obvious aetiology in the brain stem and its component parts, (like the medial longitudinal fasciculus). But this is not so clear cut in many cases. Issues involving the brainstem were my original episode.

[kelbell2]

Thank you so much and yes I have read the Health Pages and that is great information it helps to understand things so much better. Now that I found a neuro that is pointing in this direction i am hoping to get some answers soon, kelly

[karryon55]

Hi Kel,

I have MS & I have a brain stem lesion in the Pons area. It was easily picked up when I had a MRI. The MRI was a 3 tesla machine & the MRI was carried out using MS protocol.

The brain stem is the area of the brain that connects the brain to the spinal cord & is the main control centre between the two. Nobody really knows if a lesion in any area of the brain will or won't cause problems. I think that my spinal lesions were less clear on MRI than my brain lesions.

I don't know anything about brain stem tumours sorry. I do know that if someone presented with a brain stem tumour "only" the neurologist would not be looking at MS as the culprit. As far as symptoms go with brain stem lesions they can be extremely varied. The art of mapping out symptoms with lesions is a difficult one for even the most knowledgeable Neurologist.

In regards to pain I again cannot say. Maybe if you refer to the health pages on the right hand side of the page you will find lots of helpful information.

Good luck with the MRI.

Karry.