multiple sclerosis

A patient came in the other day with a known history of Multiple Sclerosis and right leg numbness X 2 years. His PCP ordered an MRI brain with and without contrast. I noticed when scanning without contrast there were tiny areas that were dark in T1 (low signal) and bright in T2 and Flair (high signal). After injecting contrast the areas I noticed got brighter or enhanced in T1. With the patients known history of the disease, the Radiologist read this exam as active MS. (Active MS because when injecting contrast, the new lesions were highlighted. If the lesions were old, they would not be highlight).

Multiple sclerosis is a central nervous system disease that breaks down the myelin sheath. It unfortunately is found mostly in young adults; especially women. MS doesn't only occur in the brain, it also occurs in the spinal cord and depending on where it is located and how big the lesion is determines the patients symptoms.

MS effects everyone differently. Common symptoms include: loss of vision, numbness of extremities or parts of the body (like my patient), urination problems, slowed thinking, and etc. Because each person is effected differently by MS, it can be extremely hard to diagnose. Therefore, the best way to diagnose MS is through the use of MRI with and without contrast.

References:

http://www.wendys-ms-site.com/whatis.html