Saturday, April 4, 2009

More on Brady's Diagnosis

Below is an expanded explanation of Brady's MRI diagnosis that Laurie sent out in an e-mail yesterday for those who would like to see....

As most of you know, Brady had an MRI this week to investigate further a cyst that had appeared on his brain on a CT Scan recently.  This afternoon we got the results and it is a mixed picture.  The good news is that there are no tumors or malignancies.  The less good news is that Brady appears to have a number of cysts on his brain in addition to the one they originally saw.  They appear primarily on his parietal lobe and in the periventricular region.  Neither his pediatrician or his pediatric neurologist at Hopkins is certain about the origin of the cysts.  They are fairly sure that they are 'old' in nature, meaning they occurred at some point in the past vs. recently.  They likely occurred in response to some sort of brain injury or infection.  The neurologist feels that they may have formed in utero but she is not sure.  There are some issues he is dealing with (speech delay, seizures, minor gross motor issues and various other things) that may or may not be related to these cysts.  

Because they are not sure of the origin or reason for the cysts, at this point they cannot say what the long-term implications might be or whether he is at risk for more to develop.  Both the pediatrician and the neurologist are currently doing research and talking with other experts in the field.  The neurologist will be presenting Brady's case at a Neuroradiology Clinic at Hopkins in two weeks.  We also may be asked to see a Developmental Pediatrician at Kennedy Krieger. 

For now, we wait.  The pediatrician will be calling back on Monday to let us know where we go from here.  Please continue to lift our family in prayer.  On this the eve of the 11 month anniversary of Hope's death, we rely strongly on your prayers and the strength that only God can give.






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