Arachniod cyst

[umazooz]

Dear Dr.


I am trying to find someone to help me with my cousin's situation and I hope you can provide me with the answer. My cousin is a 13 years old girl that had a very painful headache.. After doing MRI, the the doctors discovered that she has (Arachniod cyst) from birth and she needs to do the operation soon, where a shunt is going to be inserted..



I just want to know what is the cons and pros of this surgery? And will shunt effects her life in future, for example, will it effect pregnancy, ... etc?? About the shunt, as we know, it should be checked periodically, how often my cousin should go to the hospital for checkups?


Please I need the answer as soon as possible cause we are really worried..

Yours Sincerely,

Emy Al-Ansari

[Caliber2005]

Hi,
How is your cousin doing now?
What is the reason for surgery?
Arachnoid cysts are cerebrospinal fluid-filled sacs that are located between the brain or spinal cord and the arachnoid membrane.
Arachnoid cysts are benign cysts that occur in midline in relation to the arachnoid membrane and do not communicate with the ventricular system.
Patients usually are asymptomatic even if the cyst is quite large. MRI is the diagnostic procedure of choice.
Any signs suggestive of raised intra-cranial tension like vomiting, headache, visual disturbances, irritability in your child should alert patients care taker to visit a neurologist at earliest.
Patients usually are asymptomatic even if the cyst is quite large.
Fully Endoscopic Resection of Intracranial Symptomatic Arachnoid Cysts can be performed. Other operative procedures for treatment of arachnoid cysts include stereotactic cyst aspiration, cysto-cisternostomy and ventriculocystostomy.
Ventriculo-peritoneal shunt is another option for treatment.
Any signs suggestive of raised intra-cranial tension like vomiting, headache, visual disturbances, irritability should alert you to visit a neurologist at earliest to check for functioning of shunt.
Shunt won't affect her pregnancy.
Hope this helps.
Bye.

[umazooz]

Hello,

Thanks for the quick response, I really appreciate it. My cousin did the surgery before few hours and she is in pain. The reason for the surgery is that she was going through a very painful headache and visual disturbances the past days and after doing MRI, Arachnoid cyst was noticed. Shunt was inserted as a treatment for what she's going through but we are worried about the post surgery side effects. We want to know how often she should go to the hospital for checkups? Or she only goes if she goes through one of the mentioned signs??.

We noticed after the surgery that her lower jaw has moved a little bit to the left, is this normal? Is she going to be better?


Thanks.

[Caliber2005]

Hi,
You can discuss with your neurosurgeon regarding periodic examination of your cousin and periodic evaluation with help of CT scan. Periodic evaluation of CT scan is done to assess the position of shunt and functioning of shunt.
If after surgery her lower jaw has moved to left that states that she might have right sided 7th nerve palsy.
Hope this helps.
Bye.

[umazooz]

Hi..

((she might have right sided 7th nerve palsy. ))

Is she going 2 be ok? Or this will stay forever??

[Caliber2005]

Hi,
Seventh nerve palsy is also called as Bell's palsy. Bell's palsy is a condition where in facial nerve is affected. If there was a mild stretching of the nerve the symptoms would have been for a short period and recovery would have been expected in 6-8 weeks time.
Bye.

[umazooz]

Thanks you very much..

U were really very helpful..