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Brain lesions
By Mayo Clinic staffMayo Clinic Health Manager
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Definition
Brain lesions are abnormal areas of tissue in your brain. Many different abnormalities are called brain lesions until tests and examinations nail down the specific diagnosis. The term "brain lesions" is so broad and so vague that it may refer to:
- The presence of one or many areas of abnormal tissue
- The involvement of small to large areas of your brain
- The severity of the underlying condition, which can range from relatively minor to life-threatening
Most likely, you've learned that you have a brain lesion or brain lesions as an incidental finding after having a brain-imaging test — such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or a computerized tomography (CT) scan — performed for some reason. On MRI images, for example, brain lesions appear as dark or light spots that don't look like normal brain tissue.
Causes
If you've been told that you have a brain lesion, speculating on a cause may prove fruitless until you and your doctor have more information. The brain lesion could be a leftover indicator of an old, resolved condition. Or it could be a marker of a perfectly harmless (benign) condition.
Sometimes, despite extensive testing, the cause of brain lesions remains unknown. Among the known possible causes of brain lesions are:
- Brain aneurysm
- Brain AVM (arteriovenous malformation) (abnormal connections between blood vessels in the brain)
- Brain tumor (cancerous (malignant) or noncancerous (benign))
- Encephalitis
- Hydrocephalus (a congenital brain abnormality)
- Multiple sclerosis
- Stroke
- Traumatic brain injury
When to see a doctor
If a brain lesion discovered during a brain-imaging test doesn't appear to be from a benign or resolved condition, your doctor will likely seek more information from additional testing or consulting a specialist.
Your doctor may recommend that you see a neurologist for a specialized examination and, possibly, further tests. Even if a neurological work-up doesn't result in a diagnosis, your doctor may recommend follow-up imaging tests at regular intervals to monitor the lesion.
- Vernooij MW, et al. Incidental findings on brain MRI in the general population. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007;357:1821.
- Wong ET, et al. Clinical presentation and diagnosis of brain tumors. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 26, 2009.
- Oliveira-Filho J, et al. Neuroimaging of acute ischemic stroke. http://www.uptodate.com/home/index.html. Accessed Aug. 26, 2009.
- Aminoff MJ. Nervous system disorders. In: McPhee SJ, et al. Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment 2009. 48th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2009. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aid=12507. Accessed Sept. 16, 2009.
- Gunny RS, et al. Paediatric neuroradiology. In: Adam A, et al. Grainger & Allison's Diagnostic Radiology: A Textbook of Medical Imaging. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Churchill Livingstone/Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/160396333-3/0/1611/74.html?tocnode=54448112&fromURL=74.html#4-u1.0-B978-0-443-10163-2..50073-7_4075. Accessed Sept. 16, 2009.
