Neurological Second Opinions in Los Angeles and Beverly Hills

A neurological diagnosis often arrives with a lot riding on it: years of medication, a procedure, a change in how you plan your life. It is reasonable to want a second neurologist to look at the evidence before you commit, and reasonable when treatment is not working.

Second opinions here are given by Dr. Achillefs Ntranos, MD, a board-certified neurologist, in 60-minute visits. He reads your records and images before you arrive, and the answer is direct: I agree, I disagree, or the evidence supports neither yet, and here is what would settle it. If you have new symptoms and no diagnosis yet, the right starting point is a neurological evaluation rather than a second opinion.

What a second opinion here involves

Second opinions fail when they are treated as another short visit: a skim of the last note, a repeat of the same examination, and a shrug. Dr. Ntranos reads the source material beforehand, the MRI images rather than the radiology report and the nerve tracings rather than the summary, then takes your history again from the beginning, because the original diagnosis was built on a history someone else took.

Disagreement is not the goal. If the diagnosis and plan are sound you will hear that, and hearing it from a second neurologist is often what lets people commit to treatment. The stakes are real, though: in a study from two academic MS centers, nearly one in five patients referred with an established MS diagnosis turned out not to have MS, and many had been taking MS medication for years. [1]

Visual guide

A fresh review of the evidence

• Original records: bring images and test data as well as reports.
• Your story: the history is taken again from the beginning.
• Reasoning: the assessment explains what the evidence supports and what remains open.

When one is worth having

• A serious diagnosis, such as MS, epilepsy, or dementia, that you want confirmed before long-term treatment starts
• Treatment that is not working, or is causing problems of its own
• A decision on surgery, an infusion, or a medication you would take for years
• An unexplained result, such as an MRI finding or a positive antibody
• A moving target, where the diagnosis changed more than once or symptoms were put down to stress without an examination

What makes it different from a routine visit

Dr. Ntranos trained at Mount Sinai, where he was Chief Resident and completed a fellowship in multiple sclerosis and demyelinating diseases, followed by postdoctoral neuroimmunology research at Johns Hopkins. MS, autoimmune neurology, neuropathy, and headache are where he adds the most. One honest limit: he is not a neurosurgeon, so a question that turns on surgical technique belongs with a second surgeon.

How the process works

1. Send your records

   After booking, upload what you have through patient tools: clinic notes, imaging reports and the images themselves, EEG and nerve study results, labs, and a medication list. If a prior office holds records you cannot access, our staff can request them with your signed authorization.

2. The visit, 60 minutes

   A full history from the start of your symptoms, a neurological examination, and a discussion of what the evidence supports. Bring your questions written down, and a family member if you like.

3. What you leave with

   Whether we agree with the diagnosis, an opinion on the treatment and alternatives, and any testing that would settle open questions, with the reasoning, in writing.

4. Afterwards

   Some patients take the assessment back to their own neurologist, and we send our notes and speak with that office if it helps. Others transfer care here. Either is fine.

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What you take away from a second opinion

• Diagnosis: whether the available evidence supports the current explanation.
• Options: an assessment of treatment and reasonable alternatives.
• Open questions: what further testing would settle uncertainty, if needed.

What we are most often asked to review

We also see dizziness where neurological and inner-ear causes were never separated, concussion with symptoms that outlasted recovery, and symptoms that went through several offices without an answer. Confirming a new MS diagnosis is the most common request.

In person or by video

In-person visits are at our Beverly Hills office at 433 N Camden Dr or our West Los Angeles office at 11620 Wilshire Blvd, and are better when the examination is likely to matter, as with weakness or gait problems.

Otherwise second opinions suit video visits well, since much of the work is reading records and talking through them. Patients anywhere in California can book a telehealth second opinion. If the examination turns out to be decisive, we will arrange an in-person visit. No referral is needed.

Billing

We are direct-pay and do not bill insurance for visits. A second opinion is one flat fee, with no facility charges and no separate charge for the record review. You receive a superbill, and most PPO plans reimburse 50–80%, depending on your out-of-network benefits. Testing we order runs through your insurance. We accept HSA and FSA cards. See our billing page.

References

1. Kaisey M, Solomon AJ, Luu M, Giesser BS, Sicotte NL. Incidence of multiple sclerosis misdiagnosis in referrals to two academic centers. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2019;30:51-56.
2. American Academy of Neurology, Brain & Life. When to seek a second opinion on a neurologic diagnosis.