Symptoms vs Lesions

During the past week I have had marked weakness in my left leg , pronounced left foot numbness and more recently felt burning sensations in my left hand and arm. This is the first time it has presented strongly on one side and wondering if anyone can tell me if a MRI were done and showed lesions where would they most likely be? I am due another MRI this week and would like to make sure they picture the correct place. I know in the early stages you can have symptoms and not show on MR, I find this very frustrating, especially as I know I am getting worse. Thanks in advance. Heather  

[HVAC]

I was told by a Doctor the trick with MS is lesions do not always correspond with symptoms. In MS a lot of damage is gray matter damage which does not show up on an MRI. I was told the rule of thumb for Neurologists is the symptoms lie equal or below the damage. So if you only had leg symptoms they would do an MRI of the spine. With left arm it would be cervical or brain. With it being left sided it could be on the right side of the brain or where signals cross the brain.

The Neurologist can tell where damage is simply by doing the basic Neurological exam. Before my first ever MRI the Neurologist knew I had brain stem involvement. At the time he did not know it was MS but he knew it was Neurological and serious. My symptoms started in my brain with my double vision and went all the way down the left side and my right foot. The MRI is really a secondary tool which may or may not show anything.

I for one have had MS a long time and have three lesions which do not change much from MRI to MRI. Others will have a large lesion load and many changes. I am slowly Progressing but not according to the MRIs.

Alex

[Heather1987]

Thanks for your reply Alex, you explained it well. Much appreciated. Will let you know  the results of the MRI when I get them. Heather

[doublevision1]

Quix wrote a Health Page on this topic:

http://www.medhelp.org/tags/health_page/7687/Multiple-Sclerosis/Lesions-vs-Symptoms?hp_id=61

[HVAC]

Hang in there Heather it is tough to be in limbo.

Alex

[Heather1987]

This is a great link, thanks for passing it on. Interesting reading though. This explains why one neuro said definitely MS and the other said No as MRI clear. Hopefully this new guy will be able to shed some light on things. Will keep you all up to date and thanks again for the support. Heather

[Heather1987]

Hi all
Wasnt sure if I had updated you on my last visit to my new neuro.I saw him and he said my MRI showed I did in fact have MS. When I told him my recent problems with my left side he pointed to my MRI scan pictures and said in one of the pictures where the lesion appears is why I am having this left sided weakness. I was so surprised I didnt take in what he was saying as I guess I didnt expect him to say I have MS after being told by the previous neuro I didnt have it. Well at least I know now what Im dealing with and due to start copaxone soon. Quite scary though, how one neuro can say definitely no to MS while another says definitely yes!   Heather

[jensequitur]

Was the scan of your thoracic spine or brain?  I have lesions in my spine, which cause my leg problems.

[COBOB]

Even with lesions in the brain, left motor cortex lesions can cause right sided weakness.  We just recommend that people not try to map lesions to symptoms.  Just because a lesion can cause a symptom, does not mean that it will.  There are also lesions that the MRI can not see that can cause symptoms.  That's one of the reasons trying to attribute symptoms to a specific lesion will drive you insane.

Bob

[jujuminx]

I am glad you said that Bob, for some reason I was getting curious about where my lesions were exactly and was going to go back and reread my dx findings.  You know, where are the lesions, does it correlate to the different areas of my body that have had odd sensations.

It's really silly now when I think about. Everywhere I turn I hear about MS.  Just started a dvd from Blockbuster tonight (Hereafter) and within a few minutes a guy was trying to "connect" with his deseased wife who had MS.  Holy moly, can't get away from my anxiety about the future of this crappy disease.

Sometimes, a lot of times I just want to forget I have it and face the future like everyone else, not knowing anything.

Julie

[Heather1987]

Totally agree. The imaging was mainly concentrating on the spinal cord and only a couple of the brain. He was happy with the imagaing already done on the brain and could see what he needed to from those pictures. So I do know there was a brain lesion and more in spinal cord. The spinal cord lesion (transverse myelitis - CIS) was my first symptom of MS , my leg went numb and tingling with loss of power. Heather

[JSSL]

I can totally relate to your statement:

"Quite scary though, how one neuro can say definitely no to MS while another says definitely yes!"  

Almost two years ago neuro #1 said he was 95% sure it was NOT MS, come back in a year for a another MRI. A little over a year later I did the follow-up MRI, neuro #2 (who was looking at all of the same information and a mostly unchanged MRI) said it definitly WAS MS!

Good luck with the Copaxone, I started mine a little over a month ago and so far so good :)

JSSL