I have googled and found that sometimes lesions can be invisible. I also found that the strength of the mri also determines whether they are detectable. I went from possible ms to ppms in 2 months with no new lesions. My symptoms, whether ignored & passed off as age related or other reasons, are increasing in strength & frequency. Some website said it's a mistake of a physician to try to link symptoms to lesion location, but ultimately our symptoms are treated, not where they are, so I'd have to say it's a hit & miss issue but harmless to predict likely symptoms. As for treatment for all stages, in my stage it's a gamble to find a neurologist to prescribe anything but symptom management. I was fortunate to find mine. It is coincidence I have the same neurologist as my sister in law, who also shares a birthday lol.

No harm in shopping around with doctors! Being critical of the care you get often results in you finding a better doctor. It's not like once you have MS it's going to disappear. After being raised by a nurse and having other extensive medical history I am extremely picky about who I spend my time and money with - one thing I noticed is that NONE of these people I saw interpreted my MRI the same! Find a provider that is as close to perfect for you as possible! The MRI takes so many images that often they won't choose to look in the same selection of images - it would be easy for your provider to take a glance and miss things as they often rely on the radiologist to read the test - and there again - some are better than others.

Need a 3T or even better a 7T MRI machine with great software of imaging and a great machine as well. The software to view the images are one of the biggest things. Think of it like a camera. Cell phone camera vs. a 4k camera that pros use. The 1.5T for your brain will show something but, sometimes 1.5T for spine will not because it needs better quality. Small area in the spine, brain has water, so mri imaging techniques can bounce off of a brain better. Hope this makes sense!
Also, look up spinal cord mri protocol. Most spine mri are done using standard protocol of degeneration. (Ex. Back pain) slices need to be smaller and different imaging (Ex.stir, flair) need to be done to pick up lesions of the spine.

Wow I didn't know that some were not visible. Does that also go for lesions on the spine?? Why I ask is that the one Nero Dr. said yes I have MS because of where my lesions are and all the symptoms I have. And then the next Nero Dr. they send me to say that because I don't have any ones on my spine that no I don't have MS.???? I just want some answers as to what it is if it isn't MS. Yet they are treating me like it is MS?

I just had 3 MRIs to view three areas - the brain, the neck and the spinal cord. If I only had lesions in one of those areas, it would still be an indicator of MS.