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One of my friend's from church recently had an MRI don't due to her doc thinking she might have a neurological issue. Her MRI came back clear but they still told her they are certain she has MS. I did not think one could get a diagnosis without an abnormal MRI. Am I wrong?
A good Neuro will also rule out several other health conditions first before confirming MS diagnosis.
So I have a great specialist at UPMC and I'm also an RN. The technical definition of MS is symptomatic lesion (so a ringlike spot in the brain or spinal cord causing neurological symptoms) followed by an additional lesion at least 6 months apart that is also symptomatic. Lesions and symptoms separated by space and time. The first lesion with symptoms is technically called Clinically isolated Syndrome (CIS). However- if this lesion accompanies a lumbar puncture (spinal tap) which has greater than 4 ogliconal bands, it would be early onset MS. Regardless, you can't diagnose MS without the MRI and lumbar puncture together. I had a positive MRI 4 years ago, but negative LP, so I was CIS. 4 years later, I had a new exacerbation, 2 new lesions (one brain and one cord) and 6 bands therefore a confirmed diagnosis of MS.
Hope this helps!
MS is a tricky thing to diagnose...it was a few years for me before they could say it was definitely MS and I did have lesions on the brain. That was 30 years ago (ancient times). Spinal tap like Eric said can be an indicator. Hope that helps.
@A MyMSTeam Member is spot on! One should have Tap and numerous MRIs done of brain, cervical and thoracic before a diagnosis can be determined. I lucked out, my neurologist is a MS specialist in New Jersey. He's treated me for 17 years now. My primary care is also MS friendly and very up on things. Good luck to your friend @A MyMSTeam Member
I was diagnosed in 2015. I had problems before. My family Dr. and I had been discussing symptoms and doing research. We found, and was agreed by my neuro, that symptoms can show at least 5 yrs before actual diagnosis. My lumbar punctures are negative but the MRI verified one of my lesions, which I have a few, showed M.S. My last MRI, done thus past March, shows the M.S stable. I take Avonex weekly, which is the only treatment I have been on, and I am on Ampyra for my walking. But my symptoms get worse because of the damage done. So my diagnosis took like 5 yrs. And a few hospital stays until the right neuro appeared and would not stop until we had answers.
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