Ramifications of reversed brain stem?

Question

When I was a child I had a head injury that required a CT scan. The neurologist pointed out that my brain stem is reversed (it curves toward the front of my skull instead of curving back). I recently had another CT scan and the doctor mentioned the same thing but I was so out of it during both hospital visits I never got the chance to ask.

Does it mean anything? Would this cause any differences in brain function or general wiring? It isn't bad is it? Is it very uncommon?

I know that I asked several related questions there but I've always been curious about it!

Answer 1

I would imagine that your condition is just an anatomical anomaly, and no functional deficits should be seen. It's not really a "reversed" brain stem as you termed it -- the brainstem is just pointing in a different direction than it normally is. This happens very commonly with other organs, in which they are displaced, oriented in an anomalous fashion, etc. As long as the organ has developed normally, there should be no functional consequences -- your situation seems analogous to this.

I think that if there were any major functional deficiencies to be concerned about, your neurologist and primary-care physician would have definitely mentioned it to you.

Answer 2

You sneeze out your butt :-)