Seeing positive or negative results should not change your treatment in any way.

If you are trying to document disability for a long-term disability carrier or for Social Security Disability, it may help. But a SPECT scan doesn't always show positive findings. You are taking the risk of having a clear scan and the typical LTD carrier might try to use that against you to make their case.

Why don't you pose your questions to your doctor? Could be he has specific things he is looking for.

Incidentally, it is possible to use the MRI machine to obtain similar information (ie via a MRA sequence) as can be obtained from spect, however I think that spect is lower cost and provides a better global picture.

This beng said, if you still have to do an MRI, you might ask if they can do regionsl MRA at the same time. What they do is pick various areas in the brain and measure the blood flow by looking at the movement of oxygen in the blood. It is fast and really does not add much to the proceedure time of a normal brian MRI. No die's or contrast agents are used. As a result if the MRA clinic has a machine with the MRA software on it to do this type of measurement they may do it for no or very minimal additional cost.

The problem with Spect (and MRA for that matter) is that the intepretation is not yet standardized.
What may show up with Lyme (and babesia and some other diseases for that matter) are spots where the brain is not displayng the blood flow that it should. With Lyme these spots range from a random distribution to severe disease where entire regions of the brain are badly affected. In very severe disease, blood can been cut off entirely in various locations and cause a stroke (this has occured with acute disease in europe)

Unless thngs have changed dramatically for spect studies, it should cost less than $500. (at least in ohio)

Mostly covered by insurance and both very abnormal. My suggestion is to make sure you have it read by a lyme literate doctor.

In California, CPMC Dr. B is very good - if you are out of State perhaps you could coordinate to have the scan done near you and sent to him or Columbia for interpretation.

It is used only to show perfusion in the brain, basically to establish lyme encephalitis.

If you have neurological symptoms it may be beneficial to have it done. For me, it gave me something to compare after a year of treatment.

I knew that it may not show anything and I would run the risk of not having more ammunition for insurance etc. But it made me realize how seriously it had affected my brain.

All the tests with lyme are a gamble, who really knows but I keep getting them done.

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Originally posted by david1097:

Unless thngs have changed dramatically for spect studies, it should cost less than $500. (at least in ohio)

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Actually, I was wrong in my first post. Looking back, mine cost $1595, and that includes radiologist's fees.

By all means, make sure you have it done at a facility experienced in reading SPECTS for Lyme. I had a very bad experience with the hospital I used, and as far as I am concerned, it was $1000 thrown out the window. If you really want to get it, spend the extra money to travel to another location if it means getting an experienced hospital to do the scan.

Can't you contact yuour insurance company beforehand to see if they will cover?