Encephalomalacia - Brain & Nervous System Disorders Message Board

Anya Darkwood · 12-16-2002, 01:36 AM

Hello, I was wondering if anyone here can explain the ramifications of Encephalomalacia. Three days ago I was diagnosed with this, as well as Brain Atrophy, following an MRI. I was experiencing dizziness, headaches, nausia and loss of balance. My primary doctor doesn't seem to know what the heck she's talking about, and keeps throwing out big latin words. I'm having a Neurological 'work up' on Thursday (Dec 19th) but I'd like to find out as much as I can before hand. I'm very distressed, and I can't find any information on the web that I can understand. I'm guessing that most of these sights are designed for medical doctors. I've also found a lot of boards where people are asking what it is, but they've not recieved any responses.

Does anyone else have this or know what it is?

spotty · 12-16-2002, 09:16 AM

Hope this helps.

Encephalomalacia

Direct communication between the ventricular system and the cortical subarachnoid space created by an absence of normal brain.

Encephalomalacia can be congenital where a part of the brain may have failed to develop, leaving a space between the ventricle and the brain surface.

Acquired loss of brain tissue is usually in the setting of an infarction (ischemic stroke) where there is brain that dies and then ultimately disintegrates, leaving a cerebrospinal fluid-filled space -- encephalomalacia.

Another possible cause of loss of normal brain tissue in large enough volume to connect the ventricular to the cortical subarachnoid space is trauma: a large traumatic blood clot in the brain is eventually reabsorbed leaving behind encephalomalacia.

Another possible cause of encephalomalacia is removal of a brain lesion such as a tumor that takes up the space between the ventricles and the cortical surface.

Although true encephalomalacia is a communication between the ventricles and the cortical subarachnoid space, many neurosurgeons and neuroradiologists also call any loss of brain tissue "encephalomalacia".