What Are Brain Lesions And How Harmful Are They?

What are Brain Lesions?

 

 A brain lesion is damage or destruction to any part of the brain. It may be due to trauma or any other disease that can cause inflammation, malfunction, or destruction of brain cells or brain tissue. A lesion may be developed only in one part of the brain, or it may be widespread.

The initial damage may be so small that it may not produce any initial symptoms. However, as the condition progresses over time, it creates noticeable physical and mental changes.

 

What Causes Brain Lesions? 

 

• Aging.
• Family history of brain lesions.
• Vascular conditions.
• Trauma to the brain.
• Infections.
• Primary tumors or metastatic tumors
• Autoimmune diseases
• Exposure to radiation or certain chemicals
• Toxins, such as excessive amounts of alcohol or cigarette smoke, in the body.
• Poor diet

What are the different types of Brain Lesions? 

 

• Traumatic: gunshot wound to the brain
• Infectious: meningitis
• Malignant (cancerous): glioma
• Benign (non-cancerous): meningioma
• Vascular: stroke
• Genetic: neurofibromatosis
• Immune: multiple sclerosis
• Plaques (deposits of substances in brain tissue): Alzheimer's disease
• Brain cell death or malfunction: Parkinson's disease
• Ionizing radiation: radiation exposure leading to the death of healthy brain tissue

What are the Symptoms?

 

Depending on the type, size, and location of the lesion symptoms may change. Some of the common symptoms of brain lesion are:

• Headaches
• Neck pain or stiffness
• Nausea, vomiting, and lack of appetite
• Vision changes or eye pain
• Change in behavior and concentration
• Memory loss or confusion
• Seizures
• Fever
• Difficulty moving

How are Brain Lesions Diagnosed?

 

Most brain lesions are not diagnosed until after symptoms appear. Often a brain lesion is initially diagnosed by an internist or a neurologist. Expert neurosurgeons like Dr. Syam Sundar, help diagnose and offer treatment options for each patient depending on the severity of the condition.

The doctor will examine the patient's symptoms and medical history. During the physical examination the doctor may touch the patient's skin with hot, cold or vibrating objects, and also may pinch the patient to check for the feeling of pain, to find the location of the lesion. The doctor may recommend additional tests to assess the condition further, which include: 

• Computed tomography scan (CT or CAT)
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

  

 What are the Treatments?

 

Treatment for brain lesions varies in each case depending on the type of lesion, its location, and cause. Common approaches include: 

• Surgery to remove the lesions that are caused by a brain tumor.
• Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancerous lesions.
• Medication to fight infections, such as antibiotics or other antimicrobial drugs.
• Medication to calm the immune system or change the immune system's response. 

Can Brain Lesions be prevented?

 

Many brain lesions are neither preventable nor predictable. However, some guidelines for health maintenance may help prevent some types of brain lesions, such as:

• To quit smoking.
• To Control high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
• Always wear a helmet when participating in activities where the head is exposed to danger.
• To avoid radiation and environmental toxins.

Reviewed By: Dr Shyam Sundar K
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Brain Aneurysm – You Can’t See it Coming

A brainaneurysm is a bulging, weak area in the wall of arteries that supplies blood to the brain. Sometimes, it ruptures, releasing blood into the skull and causing a stroke. It may also lead to brain damage or death may result.

Risk Factors

• Family history 
• High blood pressure
• Smoking

What are the symptoms?

An aneurysm will cause problems before rupture, by pressing on areas in the brain. When this happens, the person will suffer from:

• Severe headaches 
• Nausea and vomiting 
• Blurred vision 
• Sensitivity to light. 
• Changes in speech 
• Neck pain 
• Fainting or loss of consciousness. 
• Seizures. 

How is it treated?

The type of treatment suitable for you will be based on your age, size of the aneurysm, any additional risk factors, and your overall health.

The following are the procedures used to manage brain aneurysms:

• Endovascular embolization – A small tube is inserted into the affected artery and a soft metal coil or mesh is used to fill the aneurysm, reducing blood flow and making it less likely to rupture. These procedures are less invasive than surgery. 

• Surgical clipping - Placing a small metal clip around the base of the aneurysm to isolate it from normal blood circulation, thus decreasing the pressure on the aneurysm.

Dr.Shyam Sundar K is an eminent name in the field of neurology and is one of the expert Neurosurgeon in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. With 8 years of experience, he is an expert in various branches of neurosurgery and presently serves as Consultant Neurosurgeon at various hospitals. 

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Detect And Treat Stroke Before It’s Too Late..

A medical emergency, stroke is a condition which requires prompt medical attention to save the patient’s life. It occurs when the blood supply to brain is reduced or interrupted, resulting in a lack of nutrient and oxygen supply to the brain cells and tissues. 

The disruption in blood supply might be due to a rupture or blockage of the blood vessels. The oxygen and nutrient deprivation can lead to death of brain cells that can cause complication if prompt treatment is not provided. An early intervention can limit the level of damage.

How to detect Stroke?

The main symptoms of stroke include: -

• Inability to think and talk properly
• Numbness of arm, leg or face
• Blurred or blackened vision in one or both eyes
• Severe and sudden headache
• Trouble in walking.

Since the condition requires prompt attention, it is important to realise the symptoms quickly. To confirm the discomfort felt is the beginning of stroke think ‘FAST’.

Face –  check whether the persons smile makes a face droops to one side

Arms –  check if the person has trouble lifting one or both arms

Speech –  check for slurred speech

Time –  if the above are detected in the person, don’t waste time, get help as soon as possible.

Types of Strokes

• Ischemic Stroke – most commonly found type of stroke, it is caused due to narrowed or blocked arteries that supply blood to the brain.
• Haemorrhagic stroke – caused due to a rupture or leak in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain.
• Transient ischemic attack – also called as mini stroke, it occurs due to a decrease or reduced blood flow to the brain, which is temporary.

Risk factors for Stroke

The risk factors for stroke include hypertension, elevated level of cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases, heavy drinking, smoking, drugs, conditions like obesity, diabetes and so on. They are known to occur mainly in men and at an age over 55 years.

Treatment for Stroke

Stroke treatment is based on a diagnosis conducted with the help of MRI, Carotid scan, Brain angiogram and so on. The treatment procedure involves medications and surgical intervention and is decided upon depending on the intensity of the issue.

Dr Shyam Sundar, a pioneer in neurosurgery, is specialised in handling various neurological conditions. He provides treatment for stroke in Tamil Nadu.

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Best Effective Spine Surgery In Chennai

Spine surgery is  practiced in those individuals who have severe problems in one or more discs in the spine. Our spine can get injured due to different reasons like, aging, trauma, improper body mechanics, structural abnormalities which may lead to back pain and other severe symptoms like, pain in leg and weakness or numbness in leg.

A chronic back pain can be considered as a situation which needs a team of health professionals to diagnose and treat it.

Open spine surgery Vs Minimally invasive spine surgery:

The traditional practice of spine surgery was carried out as open surgery. This entails the opening the operative area through a long incision. This enables the surgeon to access the spinal anatomy properly. But now as the technology has advanced and is still advancing, more and more spine disorder condition can be treated using minimally invasive surgical procedure.

As there are no involvement of any long incisions in the minimal invasive spine surgery, the open manipulation of muscles and tissue are avoided, and therefore the time duration of the operative time is made shorter. This also leads to the fast recovery of the patient.

Different surgical approaches by the surgeon:

For an open surgery and minimally invasive spine surgery, the spine can be accessed from different directions. Different approaches to access the spine are;

Anterior approach  : The surgical access to the spine is from the front of your body (through abdomen)

Posterior approach : Access to the spine is through the incision made at the back of your body.

Lateral approach : Spine is accessed through the side of your body.

Common type of spine surgeries:

A numerous conditions of spine leads to a spine surgery. The common type of Spinal Cord Surgery in Chennai include;

Discectomy or Microdiscectomy : Removal of all parts of herniated disc.

Laminectomy : Deals with the pressure relieving by removing the bone spur in the spine.

Laminotomy : Process of removing a portion of lamina that covers the spine.

Foraminotomy : Removes the  bone in the passage where the nerve root branches off the spinal cord.

Disc replacement : An injured disc is replaced with an artificial cord.

Spinal fusion : A surgical approach to join two vertebrae.

Dr. Shyam Sundar K, one of the pioneers of neurosurgery in Chennai, provides you the spine surgery in Chennai. He, the best neurosurgeon in Chennai, from his valuable experience in the field, has always consider the patient's complete satisfaction. Having an access to the advanced level of technological strategies, you are offered by the most effective spinal cord tumor treatment Chennai.

If you do suffer from any spine issues,

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Brain Tumor Treatment in Chennai

Tumor is the mass of tissue that is formed due to the accumulation of abnormal cells. The cells normally age, die and will be replaced by new cells. But these cell cycle become interrupted due to cancer and tumor. Although the body doesn't require tumor cells, they will grow considerably adding more and more cells. These tumor cells will not die and so the growth continues increasing its mass.

The tumor which emerge from the various cells in the brain is termed as brain tumor. According to the kind of brain cells in which they first form, they are named differently. Brain tumors normally emerge from the various cells that make up the brain and central nervous system. 

Brain tumor can of of two types,

• Malignant tumor
• Benign tumor

Malignant tumor are cancerous tumors which contains cancer cells which are highly dangerous. Benign tumor are non-cancerous in nature.

Malignant brain tumors which are cancerous that originate in the brain, grows faster than benign tumors (non-cancerous). Although brain cancer rarely spreads to other organs, it will spread to other parts of the brain and central nervous system.

Benign brain tumors are usually not deeply rooted and so it is easy to surgically remove. But even after the removal, they can still come back, although benign tumors are less likely to recur than malignant tumors.

According to the type of occurrence brain tumor can be classified in to two,

• Primary brain tumor
• Secondary brain tumor

A primary brain tumor is a tumor which starts in the brain and there it continues to grow.

If there is a cancerous tumor else were in the body, it sends cells which end up growing in the brain. These types of brain tumors are called secondary or metastatic brain tumors.

Symptoms of Brain Tumor :

Brain tumor symptoms vary according to the location and type of tumor. Since different areas of the brain control different functions of the body, where the tumor lies affects the way symptoms are manifested. Some tumors doesn't show any symptoms but will effect in the decline of health. 

• One of the common symptom for brain tumor is headache.
• Seizures
• Balance problems
• Nausea and vomiting
• Problems with memory
• Change in speech, vision and hearing
• Changes in mood, personality or ability to concentrate
• Numbness or tingling in arms or legs

Brain Tumor Diagnosis :

The diagnosis of brain tumor starts by asking some normal questions to check whether the patient is showing any symptoms, if doctors suspect a brain tumor, then they may request for any of the following tests,

• Imaging tests like CT or MRI to see detailed images of brain. 
• MRA or angiogram. Here x-rays or dyes are used to get idea about the blood vessels in the brain. Thus to check whether there is any signs of abnormality.

Brain Tumor Treatment :

Surgery to remove the tumor is normally the principal choice once a brain tumor has been detected. However, a few tumors can't be surgically removed due to their position in the brain. In those cases, chemotherapy and radiation treatment are the choices for shrinking and killing the tumor. In some cases, chemotherapy or radiation therapy is likewise utilized after surgery to kill any remaining cancer cells. Tumors that are deeply rooted in the brain or located in areas that are difficult to reach might be treated with Gamma Knife therapy, which is a type of focused radiation treatment.

Brain and Spine Center provides the best Brain Tumor Treatment in Chennai. Here more advanced and sophisticated treatments are delivered with the help of highly qualified and experienced Neurosurgeon in Chennai.

For the clarification of any doubts regarding brain and spine problems, feel free to contact our expert..

Get Relief from Severe Pain with Intervertebral Disk Replacement

The purpose of installing the artificial intervertebral disc is to eliminate pain and improve mobility in patients with chronic back pain. Currently, this surgery is a modern alternative to spinal fusion - fusion of two vertebrae. When spinal fusion there is a risk of degenerative changes in the vertebrae.

Intervertebral discs are located between the vertebrae and act as shock absorbers. In addition, the intervertebral discs of the spine movements promote its flexion, extension.

In the aging process erases intervertebral discs, they may form defects, degenerative changes. Through these defects can extend in a herniation of the nucleus pulposus, which is located in the center of the disc. The aim of the replacement of the intervertebral disc with an artificial one is to restore the movement between the vertebrae.

Safety of artificial intervertebral discs

American organization FDA, which is responsible for approving new drugs recently approved the use of artificial intervertebral discs. There is currently no long-term results of this type of treatment of disc herniation.

Preparation for surgery

Preparation for surgery to replace the intervertebral discs is the same as with other operations in spinal surgery. It spent the whole spectrum of research, which are necessary before surgery (blood, urine, x-ray and other imaging techniques). Before the surgery, the patient visits the anesthesiologist. It turns out the presence of allergy to drugs.

How is the operation

The operation is performed transabdominal, that is, access to the spine through the abdomen is obtained. After incision abdominal contents is moved sideways and becomes visible spine. Struck by the intervertebral disc is removed. In its place installed two metal plates. Between them installed plastic backup to the vertebrae can move between them.

After operation
Most of the patients after surgery can have a little walk in the evening. After two or three days, the patient may be discharged. During the first month after surgery should limit physical activity. The recovery period after such operation takes about six to seven months. 

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Best Neurosurgery in Chennai

Neurosurgery is the medical specialty concerned with the prevention of neurological disorders, diagnosis which affect the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves and cranial cerebrovascular system. Neurosurgery deals with the best treatment for brain abnormalities, injuries and spine care.

Neurological Disorders   

• Epilepsy
• Brain Tumors
• Severe Headache
• Pediatric Disorders
• Neurovascular Diseases

Neurosurgery Treatments

Neurosurgery is the surgical procedure for all the neurological problems which considered as serious problems and affect the nervous system.

 

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