What You Need to Know About Brain Tumor Diagnosis?
If you have been experiencing the signs and symptoms of brain tumor, then it is quite essential that you must visit a neurologist in Delhi and get the diagnosis done. Many reputed hospitals such as Max Healthcare offer you tests and diagnostic procedures to confirm whether you have a tumor or not. These tests also help the doctors in understanding the type of tumor and the treatment that will cure the disease effectively.
During such tests, you may face confusions that may make you more uncomfortable about the situation. Therefore, you should always have some information regarding these tests. To assist you in such situation, we have listed down all you need to know about the brain tumor diagnosis.
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A Neurological Exam
As brain tumor falls under neurological disorders, the first step in diagnosing your brain tumor is more likely to be a neurological exam. In this exam, the doctor will check your vision, hearing, strength, sensation, balance, coordination, reflexes and ability to think and remember. The doctor will need your personal and family health history as well. If the neurologist feels that you are suffering from the brain tumor, he/she will go to other steps involving various scans of the brain.
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CT scan
It involves an X-ray machine connected to the computer which takes a 3-dimensional picture of the brain from different angles. The computer then combines the images to show any abnormality or tumor in the brain. CT scan is also used in the cases where the patients cannot go through an MRI due to conditions where the patient has a pacemaker to regulate heartbeat.
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MRI
One of the most common tests to diagnose a brain tumor, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) uses magnetic rays to produce detailed images of the body. It can also be used to measure the size of the tumor. This gives better details of the brain and hence is more popular that CT scan.
- Positron Emission Tomography(PET), or PET-CT scan
It is used to create images of organs and tissues inside the body. The doctor injects a small amount of radioactive sugar substance. As tumors use more energy, they absorb the radioactive substance in high quantities. The scanner then detects the substance and produces images of the tumor. This scan is used to determine tumor’s growth when the patient is already receiving the treatment.
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Cerebral Arteriogram
Also called a cerebral angiogram, it is an X-ray of the head showing arteries and veins of the brain. The doctor injects a contrast dye into the main arteries before the scan to get the detailed images.
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Lumbar Puncture or Spinal tap
In this procedure, a sample of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is taken by using a needle to find tumor cells or tumor markers. Doctors give a local anesthetic to numb the patients lower back before the procedure.
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Myelogram
A rare procedure, it is recommended when the tumor has spread to the spinal cord, spinal fluid or other parts of the brain. The doctor injects a dye into the CSF that surrounds the spinal cord and gets the x-ray images outlining the spinal cord. This helps the doctors in finding the tumor’s presence.
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Biopsy
It is a surgical procedure mostly done when the tumor is removed by surgery. In this procedure, the doctors remove a small sample of the tumor for the microscopic examination. It can also be done in cases where the complete removal of the tumor is not possible due to patient’s health.
The doctor may also use other tests such as blood test, urine test, or a bone scan to diagnose specific types of brain tumors such as Pituitary tumors.
To treat a disease effectively, it is always important to first understand its condition and stage. Therefore, you must go through such diagnosis and get all the answers. It is only after understanding the disease that you will be able to get a more specialized treatment to be healthy again.
