Hello all,
I've done a search and only one post(from'07) mentioned it in passing, so i thought I would create a new post.
My Mother(61) has been battling with cognitive issues after a surgery about 2 yrs ago. The general concensus(GP, others)is that she was under general anesthesia for too long.
Up until that day, she seemed to be just fine and lived a normal life.
Since that day she's battled with dementia, panic attacks, and memory loss.
She hasn't driven her car, nor brought up wanting a cigarette(she did smoke), or a glass of wine(she always had 1 or 2 glasses with dinner). It was as if all that was erased.
I'm her only child and have been her caregiver since that day. Things were cognitively very bad shortly after the surgery and gradually improved to about 60% of how she was before that day...until recently. She has gotten worse to the point where going to the neurologist was no longer an option. She has refused to go because of her fear of what we might hear.
I do have aunts & uncles on her side that have AD.

After seeing the neurologists, she ordered some tests most of them I'm familiar with, except for the MRE of the brain.
After an online education, I've learned that this is a fairly new method of getting data of the brain's tissue stiffness. What happens is sound/shear waves are sent through the head into the brain tissue thru the use of an active driver while in the MRI device.
The MRE procedure appears to be commonly used on other organs like the liver, but I have real concerns about the safety of sending sound waves thru the brain of a person with cognitive issues. I found one study that claims it's safe but the participants were all healthy young people. So I'm at a loss, not sure if i should cancel that portion of the test or if my fears are baseless?
I just do not want my Mother to be a guinie pig for some new technology that researchers have characterized in reports as, "a technology in its infancy." I do not want her to get any worse due to a test that wasn't necessary.

Has anyone had any experience with MREs of the brain?
thanks in advance.
franco

Franco, sorry I don't really have an answer regarding a MRE, but if she is fighting going to a doctor at all I'm not sure she'd stay still for an MRI or MRE .. Just a thought.

An MRI is loud and noisy and confusing enough for anyone, much less someone with dementia and panic attacks. Then add sound waves (as if the loud pinging and knocking of the MRI machine weren't enough sound waves), I would be skeptical.

My questions to the doctor would be:

What are we hoping to learn by this study that cannot be learned in another less stressful way?

Once we have that information, how will it affect the decisions we must make regarding treatment?

Non-dementia example: I was having stomach trouble. An upper GI showed signs of several conditions but not definitively. The gastro doctor wanted to do some horrible sounding test for a clearer answer. So I asked "what will we do if it is condition A? condition B? condition C?"

Turns out the first treatment option for all 3 cases was the identical medication and see if that didn't fix it. I told him to skip the test, write the prescription, and live with the ambiguity of exactly what was wrong. If the meds didn't fix it, I would agree to more testing. It's been five years and the meds are still working like a charm.

quote:

Originally posted by Franco:
Has anyone had any experience with MREs of the brain?
thanks in advance.
franco

I looked at WebMD and found some information. I will copy it below. I have no peronal experience but I think I remember (I have Early Onset Alzheimer's) having an MRE at the Hershey Medical Center.

Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have shown that magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) may be a valuable tool in the detection and diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

The work was presented as a poster here at the Alzheimer's Association 2007 International Conference on Prevention of Dementia by coinvestigators Geng Li, MD, PhD, from the Jockey Club MRI Center and the division of neurology, department of medicine, at the University of Hong Kong, and Edward S. Yang, PhD, director of the Jockey Club MRI Engineering Center at the University of Hong Kong.

quote:

Originally posted by LittleRed:
Franco, sorry I don't really have an answer regarding a MRE, but if she is fighting going to a doctor at all I'm not sure she'd stay still for an MRI or MRE .. Just a thought.

She did successfully complete an MRI on her abdominal section recently, so hopefully she is able to repeat the process.

quote:

Originally posted by Carolina Songbird:
An MRI is loud and noisy and confusing enough for anyone, much less someone with dementia and panic attacks. Then add sound waves (as if the loud pinging and knocking of the MRI machine weren't enough sound waves), I would be skeptical.
My questions to the doctor would be:
What are we hoping to learn by this study that cannot be learned in another less stressful way?
Once we have that information, how will it affect the decisions we must make regarding treatment?
Non-dementia example: I was having stomach trouble. An upper GI showed signs of several conditions but not definitively. The gastro doctor wanted to do some horrible sounding test for a clearer answer. So I asked "what will we do if it is condition A? condition B? condition C?"
Turns out the first treatment option for all 3 cases was the identical medication and see if that didn't fix it. I told him to skip the test, write the prescription, and live with the ambiguity of exactly what was wrong. If the meds didn't fix it, I would agree to more testing. It's been five years and the meds are still working like a charm.

Excellent points CS!
It's funny, I use the same approach when I take my aging pets to the vet and they recommend procedures. Not sure why I didn't apply that same logic to this situation.
I'll definitely ask, I've pushed the testing off until next week.
The only thing is this Neurologist isn't too open to questioning of her methods. Almost offended when i ask questions.
She didn't even tell me about the MRE, I had to find out about it from the Imaging Ctr when they called for the appointment.
So, I'm not too pleased with the Neuro. It was my our first visit, referred by another specialist.

If anyone knows of an excellent Neuro in Houston, I'm all ears.

quote:

Originally posted by Ttom:
I looked at WebMD and found some information. I will copy it below. I have no peronal experience but I think I remember (I have Early Onset Alzheimer's) having an MRE at the Hershey Medical Center.
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have shown that magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) may be a valuable tool in the detection and diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Thanks for the info, Ttom.