Iatrogenic cause--what's that??? Biopsy put a HOLE in my artery!!

Hi! My name is Barbara Toman and I am 57 years old. I have pulsatile tinnitus due to a DIRECT HOLE that was put in my vertebral artery at the base of my skull. The Methodist Hospital in Houston, Texas told me that I had a 4 cm tumor in my upper cervical spine in 1990. They said I would DIE or be a quadriplegic in six months. This story is VERY long--soooo long--but for sake of reading--I will significantly shorten it. The biopsy put a DIRECT HOLE in the vertebral artery right outside the skull at the base. But, NO one knew--or NO one told me--I did NOT have a tumor--they thought it was an AVM--put me in hospital to repair the AVM--but catheter arteriogram showed all I had was an occluded left internal jugular vein and this "tumor" was really a group of collateral circulation veins working FOR or IN PLACE of the blocked jugular vein. BUT, they wanted to keep on scanning in A LOT!! I switch hospitals to UT Hermann cause by 1995 I was TERRIBLY DIZZY!!!!! And, after 18 months of going from doc to doc to doc--someone suggested I had MS---I found the top MS doc--he did another brain/neck scan and found that I had had a STROKE!!! So, for SIXTEEN YEARS I BELIEVED THAT I HAD A STROKE AT AGE 37 that caused me to be dizzy--why?? The "vascular malformation was causing vascular steal. Fast forward to 2010--I end up with pulsatile tinnitus --TWO different qualities of PT--one that is a clear whoosh to the beat of my heart--and the other is like that of crickets/locust to the beat of my heart----I ended up having another catheter arteriogram and Dr. Michel Mawad (excellent) found a direct HOLE in my vertebral caused by that biopsy and I have a base skull Arteriovenous fistula on the left. And, on the right I have a severely stenosed right internal jugular vein. Its been a LONG road---very LONG--I am a strong believer in God and I trust Him to give me the strength to carry on--I am NOT repairing the fistula for now. I have been SO many places--and have seen LOTS of top docs---NYU, Mayo Clinic, UT, Baylor, Beth Israel, etc. So glad to meet others!! Whoosh whoosh....

 

wait---forgot to define iatrogenic---it means doctor-generated---so basically goof-ups.... lol

 

Yes, Dr. Mawad is in Texas at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital--he is chief of neuroradiology at Baylor College of Medicine. He is a true pioneer in this field and I trust him so much!! He did want to repair the fistula cause it does have danger to it--but so does the repair--he understood that for now I would rather do the watch and wait strategy. What tests have you had? PT is so hard to deal with--but, for now, I have adjusted to it as best as possible!

 

Well, if it is NOT from a known vascular cause, then learning to deal with it is a good thing!! Even though mine pulsatile tinnitus is from a known vascular cause, I am still choosing to do the same thing--deal with it---and of course, I need to do yearly MRA of head/neck to check for any growth. So glad you are experiencing a calmer PT! Is your PT able to be heard by the docs? Cause if it is, then often times doing a catheter arteriogram is a good thing. I also suggest a FB site called Pulsatile Tinnitus Whooshers Unite--it's great!!