Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffIf it's suspected that you have a brain tumor, your doctor may recommend a number of tests and procedures, including:
- A neurological exam. A neurological exam may include, among other things, checking your vision, hearing, balance, coordination and reflexes. Difficulty in one or more areas may provide clues about the part of your brain that could be affected by a brain tumor.
- Imaging tests. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is commonly used to help diagnose brain tumors. MRI uses magnetic fields and radio waves to generate images of the brain. In some cases a dye may be injected through a vein in your arm before your MRI. A number of specialized MRI scans may help your doctor in evaluation and treatment planning, including functional MRI, perfusion MRI and magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
- Tests to find cancer in other parts of your body. If it's suspected that your brain tumor may be a result of cancer that has spread from another area of your body, your doctor may recommend tests and procedures to determine where the cancer originated. One example might be a chest X-ray to look for signs of lung cancer.
-
Collecting and testing a sample of abnormal tissue (biopsy). A biopsy can be performed as part of an operation to remove the brain tumor, or a biopsy can be performed using a needle. A stereotactic needle biopsy may be done for brain tumors in hard to reach areas or very sensitive areas within your brain that might be damaged by a more extensive operation. Your neurosurgeon drills a small hole, called a burr hole, into your skull. A narrow, thin needle is then inserted through the hole. Tissue is removed using the needle, which is frequently guided by computerized tomography (CT) or MRI scanning.
The biopsy sample is then viewed under a microscope to determine if it is cancerous or benign. This information is helpful in guiding treatment.
