A Radionuclide Cisternogram done at Mayo Clinic proved my spontaneous CSF leak after brain and full spine MRIs with & without contrast, CTs, and Digital Subtraction Myelograms failed to do so

It took a total of 3 years to prove my cerebrospinal fluid leak existed. Test after test failed to diagnose me, despite my being bedridden for the last 8 months and having classic leak symptoms. Due to normal imaging, I was brushed off by doctors and suffered for years until I reached csf leak specialists at Mayo Clinic. The only thing ever found on imaging was from a brain MRI with contrast done last month which just showed "mild engorgement of the venous sinuses" and gave me a 2 on the BERN scale, indicating a "low probability" of having a csf leak. The crystal clear images from my MRIs and DSMs couldn't do what nuclear medicine could!! The doctors were even able to determine the leak was most likely due a venous fistula because of the radiotracer in my kidneys, which you can barely see. The radiologists knew what to look for though! I'm so thankful! I go back to Mayo in 2 weeks to use their Photon Counting CT scanner in the hopes of imaging the fistula. Mayo and Duke are the only 2 places in the world using a photon counting ct scanner to image venous fistulas and have had overwhelmingly positive results in the very short time they've been doing it. submitted by /u/megg33 [link] [comments]

source https://www.reddit.com/r/Radiology/comments/12zs0kd/a_radionuclide_cisternogram_done_at_mayo_clinic/