AboutDina Q Goldin, Ph.D. Expertise Information and advice for Acoustic Neuroma patients who would like honest patient-to-patient interaction about their symptoms or about treatments and related medical procedures. If you are unsure if your experience is "normal", or are wondering whether your information is complete, feel free to ask.
Experience I am an Acoustic Neuroma patient and the founding editor
of the Acoustic Neuroma Patient Archive (http://www.ANarchive.org).
Question I have had hearing loss and hissing in my right ear. The
ENT confirmed I had unilateral asymetric hearing loss. Had an
abnormal BAR test. The doctor said something is going on in
my 8th cochlear nerve. Just went for an MRI. What other things
could make my BAR test abnormal,besides an acoustic neuroma.
Answer I hope your MRI was done with gadolinium contrast, this is the right way to diagnose AN. It could be something else of course, but at this point it's best to see what the MRI shows rather than guess. Please make sure that your MRI is read by a neuroradiologist, rather than a plain radiologist. They would be the ones to write a report that is forwarded to your doctor, that's used as a basis for a diagnosis.
