Best Doctors stopped Vikki from undergoing an unnecessary, invasive surgery

Vikki recently started having bouts of vertigo, which she assumed were due to the stress of multiple family deaths or her history of migraines. She went to see a few different doctors, but none were sure what the cause could be until her eye and ear doctor noticed something abnormal in Vikki’s head scans.

The treating specialist ordered an MRI, and found a fusiform aneurysm – a spindle-shaped swollen artery – in her brain. Though it was unrelated to Vikki’s vertigo, her neurosurgeon recommended proceeding with brain surgery to remove the aneurysm. She scheduled the surgery, but got a second opinion from an interventionist, who thought she should wait to have the surgery and have more testing done, as they were not yet sure of the risk the fusiform would pose.

Vikki sought out advice from her health plan case manager, who referred her to Best Doctors for an in-depth medical review from a world-renowned expert physician. Best Doctors got the case moving very quickly because of her impending surgery date, which was impressive because that speed of turnaround time is “unheard of in the medical industry,” Vikki said. Her case was sped up even more because she already had copies of her brain scans and films, which she provided to Best Doctors, in addition to the records they collected on her behalf.

Everyone from the member services representative to Vikki’s member advocate was very kind, compassionate and caring. Her member advocate made sure to keep her informed throughout the entire process. “The process was seamless and extremely thorough,” she said. The Best Doctors team collected the remaining medical records they needed, and sent everything to an expert neurosurgeon.

The expert specialist reviewed and analyzed her case information, and though he confirmed the diagnosis, he agreed with her interventionist and recommended against the brain surgery. Rather, the expert explained in the Best Doctors report, Vikki should monitor the fusiform for a year and reevaluate after more testing. Because the rare fusiform wasn’t showing symptoms and they didn’t know if it was benign and slow-growing or malignant, the risks of such an invasive surgery outweighed the benefits of removal.

“Best Doctors made all the difference in my decision on what to do for course of treatment,” Vikki said. After Best Doctors clarified and simplified her treatment options, she canceled her surgery, relieved she didn’t have to go through with it. “I was grateful that [Best Doctors] was available to me, and that I was able to do [the expert second opinion] in a virtual way,” she added.

She felt fortunate her health plan offered Best Doctors and allowed her access to the best specialists in the country, something she wouldn’t have had otherwise. Vikki’s scheduled a follow up with her interventionist, and plans to share the report. She was able to return to all of her normal activities, including working out.

“[Best Doctors] is one of the best, if not the best, medical care experiences I’ve had with regards to a very serious issue,” Vikki said.