Could my acoustic neuroma cause my dizziness?

Question

Hello,

I am a 52-year-old female with a 2 mm acoustic neuroma on the right side. There is no hearing loss, but I do have dizziness, imbalance, and pulsatile tinnitus. Also, an essential tremor developed seven years ago. I get migraines with aura occasionally. Ten months ago, I developed coccyx pain that got worse upon sitting.

My colonoscopy was clear. Three months ago, I developed bilateral diplopia, lateral and horizontal, but no nystagmus. I have also been getting headaches upon waking and in the evening. I consulted a neuro-ophthalmologist who suspected cranial nerve palsy and ordered blood and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests.

I will go over the results with him at the next appointment. I want to be sure to ask the right questions. There are two areas that I saw on the MRI that are obviously strange: The left lateral ventricle has a bright spot and looks larger with a different imaging, not at the foramen of Monro, but above.

Also, the right clivus looks off. I would like your opinion, and also want to know specifically what questions I should ask my neuro. I will submit a few of the scans.

Kindly help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I read your query and understand your concerns. You need to ask your neuro-ophthalmologist the following questions:

What does he suspect about the nature of the acoustic neuroma?
Is there an involvement of the ophthalmic nerve or of any other nerve supplying the eye muscles?
What is the explanation for the bright spot in the ventricle? Is it a normal calcification of the choroid plexus or indicates a hemorrhage?
Is there any more explanation for diplopia? An acoustic neuroma of 2 mm rarely causes diplopia.
You also need to ask about the possibility of chondrosarcoma of the clivus.

I hope this helps you.

If you have more questions, feel free to write back to me.

Thanks and regards.