How long to hear back after NHS MRI (brain)?

[PenguinsRabbits]

Had brain MRI today and wasn't told when I would hear back.

All radiographer said was he didn't think I should be going home alone as I seemed very dizzy. I was assuming it will be all clear and no contrast was used but a little puzzled by the very sympathetic radiographer. I had my husband there so he took me home. Have had an emergency CT scan of brain and nothing found but that was no contrast and they said that just ruled out active bleeds and big tumours.

Asked receptionist and she suggested after 2 weeks phone them but didn't really appear to know. I know normally the longer you wait the more likely it is all clear. NHS online seems to say up to 2 weeks. If its bad news do they phone and does it happen quickly? Going to assume its good news. Has anyone been told not to go home alone and it was good / bad news. Checked online and 3 people told that all had tumours but I guess if you just had nothing you might feel silly mentioning it. Thanks very much.

The staff can't be accurate. If you're on a 2WW, you will have to have your scan reported quickly; otherwise, the staff can't know how long the gastro wait list is, the dermatology wait is, the neuro wait is.

All will vary according to the latest recruitment crisis in the NHS...

You were told to not go home alone because you were dizzy.

Radiographers, by and large, be then general, CT or MRI- look at you images to determine these questions.

Is it all scanned? Did the patient move? Hold their breath? Have they covered everything?High level diagnosis isn't generally on their radar.

I had both CT and MRI and was told 2 weeks for results. They came back much quicker in both cases and clear! So a lot of unnecessary worry!

I second all this. The reason you were told not to go home alone was literally nothing to do with the scan and entirely because you were dizzy.

Thanks very much. No not on 2ww and so far things have been quick so hopefully not too long.

I had an MRI recently as had reasons to worry about a possible tumour. I asked the radiographer afterwards when I'd get an answer, and he said that the consultant would contact me for an appointment. This worried me much as I hadn't be referred by a consultant but my GP. He appeared very serious and wanting to avoid the discussion, so was expecting bad news, but I didn't hear anything and when I saw my GP a few weeks later, he checked the letter that confirmed all was fine.

Radiographers are not trained to pick up anything let alone report on what they've seen. The one who spoke to you was probably just very caring and concerned about you driving because of your dizziness.

Thanks very much - radiologists said nothing about results, receptionist seemed unsure but said told me results go back to referring consultant who I should call in 2 weeks and gave me their name. I was referred by A&E so doubt I get it from there. It might go back to GP but no idea.

I have a phone number at least though.

I had a head MRI last year which was looking at my facial nerves, and the results actually took about six weeks. They went to my GP, which was really odd, because the MRI was instigated by maxillo-facial, who I was referred to by my dentist. I hadn't seen a GP at the surgery for about three years.

Thanks I suspect that's where mine will go too but we moved a year ago and I haven't been to GP here yet. Would prefer to discuss with neurologist.

Mine took over 3 months despite chasing but was all fine in the end.

My 10 month old had an MRI on 12th June and we got the results 21st June

Should have said the MRI was on his brain too

Would prefer to discuss with neurologist.

Ring the neurologist and see if they can request a copy of the report when it's ready. They may also be able to advise about typical turn around times.

I had an mri and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Everyone I met after my scan asked if I had follow up appt in place and then I got called to see the consultant within 2 days. I would say no news is good news. Hope I'm right. All the best

Thanks very much. From what I can see online people with brain tumours do seem to be contacted quite quickly, often within a few days, max I came across was one week. Sometimes the results for MS were much slower going up to 2 months but appears generally a good sign the longer you wait. Only one day so far, phone rang at 2pm but was happy was just school.

Not been allocated a neurologist though think one will review MRI and send report in a letter and then if there's an issue you either will be automatically referred or GP can refer you. I do have phone number for hospital but won't call until 2 weeks or so like they said.

So sorry to hear about your little one highlighter, hope it was all clear. Must be hard to put such a little one through an MRI.

So sorry to hear about your tumour anon I am presuming I won't have one but always a bit jittery incase phone rings.

I had to wait 3 months for a biopsy result though by that time I knew it was clear.

@PenguinsRabbits all clear thankfully. Hope yours results come back asap and are good too x

My ds had mri brain scan aged 3 and I was really concerned because the radiographer said she was actually done but wanted to do a certain area again, obviously I freaked out. But we got the results which were all clear, this was 3 weeks later though at consultant appointment. Best of luck op.

Mine took about 6 weeks but it was over the Christmas period so they might have been slower at that time

Sorry to hear about your diagnostic anon, hope you're OK.

The process after an mri involves a radiologist reviewing the test, sometimes discuss with another consultant if anything not 100% clear. This usually happens with 48h of SCs ning, hence the quick call if anything suspicious. What takes a lot of time is the typing of the results which will be dictated. Its 100s of letters a day.

Some hospital will send these abroad to be done, some will have an expensive software. Dependent on the backlog, it can take anything from 2 weeks to 6 weeks.

It is normal for all letters to go back to GP even if followed up by an appointment with the specialist. If the consultant ordered the test, they will normally see the patient again as a follow up if only to discharge but not always if its a clear 'nothings wrong, nothing else to explore in my speciality'. It is then for the gp to decide whether to refer elsewhere.

Thanks very much - that's very helpful Swing

It was the A&E doctor and looking her name up she just works there part-time.

I think it helps to understand the process.

Here, the only specialist tests a GP can order in radiology are CTs on your waterworks, looking for stones, or CT heads for chronic headaches. Not sure about Ultrasound; so if you present at your GP with something needing further investigation, they 'write' to a hospital consultant, who may order tests before seeing you, based on what your GP has told them, which is why the staff tell you that if you haven't got an OP appointment, one will be made for your.

It's now standard practice to ask the patient if they know how to access their results.

Hospital doctors will send a 'discharge summary' to your referring GP, but that can take time, but that's why your GP may get the results before you get called to an OP appointment, if indeed you need to 'see someone'. Going via Emergency just cuts the first stage of that out (going from the GP to the care of the relevant hospital specialisation).

@PenguinsRabbits The Emergency consultant will have passed your ongoing care to the relevant hospital specialist, or back to your GP. You're unlikely to see her again, as her work is done!

@SwingOfThings "Radiographers are not trained to pick up anything let alone report on what they've seen". Wrong. They absolutely are trained to 'pick up things', but it depends on the modality and experience of the radiographer. They also cultivate a poker-face, as do all HCP staff who are not legally allowed to comment on their findings to the patient. That might be why they perform further imaging on you to either confirm or rule out an area they feel might not look quite as expected. And reporting radiography is very much a growing profession!

Thanks very much. When I went to A&E the doctor said then she would send any further results just back to GP - GP has the discharge report but cannot find any trace of further results. Blood tests were fine, CT with no contrast of brain was fine, ECG fine but quite a few failed neurological tests like walking in a straight line, Rhomberg, Babinski, one where you put hands on top of each other, weakness all along right side recorded in tests and one eye (though never noticed right sided weakness myself).

When I phoned re MRI appointment they said I haven't been allocated a hospital consultant so would guess default is back to GP. Receptionist said it would go back to hospital consultant but she didn't realise that was A&E and I had impression she didn't really know where they went other than usually to a consultant at hospital. It's got to either be GP or neurology or both. The receptionist told me to phone the hospital doctor but she works part-time at hospital in A&E so will probably just try contact centre again or MRI reception if not heard by 2 weeks and see if someone knows then. No call today at least.

The radiographer and all the staff at my mri definitely knew the findings. They were all so kind and nice to me. My tumour was mainly removed but a small amount was left as it was in too dangerous an area. There's a 40% chance it will regrow and I have annual mri's to monitor it. I judge how kind the staff are to guess if there will be bad news. So far so good. I'm just one face in the crowd and that's the way I hope it stays 😊

My DH has MRI scans every 6 months for a benign brain tumour. Now he's in the system he just gets appointment letters for the scan, then another letter for a follow up appointment, usually 2-3 weeks later. Regarding feeling dizzy, he always feels a bit funny afterwards and I do try and take him for this reason, but sometimes if I can't, he will just sit and rest for 30-40 mins and he feels fine again.
Good luck I hope it all works out OK for you

Thanks very much. Sorry to hear that Anon hope it stays in the 60% that will be fine. Glad they are checking annually.

Thanks for telling me that Under Will need to watch out for letters too. The appointment was a letter though happened to phone same day and they told me on phone too.

My radiologist was so nice it was a bit disconcerting. I think you are on hyper alert then until you get results so over analyse everything. He asked me if I was dizzy. Said no. He said are you sure you aren't dizzy? Said no. I was but didn't fancy staying longer in hospital. Then he said is anyone with you as I don't think you should go home by yourself. I said my husband is here and taking me. He said you don't know how relieved that makes me to hear that.

The MRI also they said another 10 minutes then went on for about 20 minutes not saying why. The noise had been equal on both sides then went to all noise coming from left for last 5 minutes or so. Hopefully noises are just random but that left me feeling even more unbalanced that normal as its so noisy and was one sided.