Can Spinal Meningitis lead to MS

[c2poodle]

My 22 yr old son lost feeling in the left side of his body, an hour and half later he had severe pain behind his right eye.  Diarrhea, vomiting, inability to speak or see clearly, and passed out on the floor to awake at a minimum of 30 minutes later.  At the emergency room the doctors diagnosed him with spinal meningitis (viral) after taking spinal fluid.  A CT scan and 2 MRIs with in the next 24 hours showed 6 spots/scars on his brain.  The neurologist told him not to worry until he gets better and to return in 4 weeks for another MRI.  The releasing GP at the hospital told my son that he probably has MS.   Can Spinal Meningitis cause scars on the brain like MS?  Are the scars the only way to confirm MS?  He continues to loose feeling in his left side and have blurred vision, so with spinal meningitis how long could this last?  Thank you  

[Relo]

my god how much this sounded like me.
I too am 22 years old, and was diagonosed with viral meningitis on the 23rd of february, i was taken to hospital after having a big fit and a stroke.they took liquid from my spine. i stayed in hospital for 13 days, after going home i again had big fits and was take to hospital several times, they gave me an anti fit pill called Keppra. and like your son I tool had numbness in my body, especially on my left side. and my left eye was irritating, i was taken to hospital several times due to my symptons too.
the hospital i was going too was very uninformative, so i ended up going to another one and exagerated all my symptons, and i finally got a doctor that explained everything so that i understood properly. my pills keppra which i took at 9am and 9pm 9am now told to take 2 at 9am and 9pm. and have been told to double it again after 2 weeks and see whats happens.

marco

[Dr. Kokil Mathur]

Hi

Thanks for the post! How is your son now?

Viral meningitis can “lead to abnormalities of the cranial nerves, a group of nerves arising from the brain stem that supply the head and neck area and control eye movement, facial muscles and hearing, among other functions.Visual symptoms and hearing loss may persist after an episode of meningitis. Inflammation of the brain (encephalitis) or its blood vessels (cerebral vasculitis), as well as the formation of blood clots in the veins (cerebral venous thrombosis), may all lead to weakness, loss of sensation, or abnormal movement or function of the part of the body supplied by the affected area in the brain.”

Refer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meningitis

Multiple Sclerosis is an autoimmune disorder caused by the body reacting against its own brain’s white matter and creates scar tissues. It is not caused by meningitis which can however aggravate the symptoms of MS.

Normally viral meningitis lasts around 2 weeks with no residual complications. Please let me know if there is any thing else and do keep me posted. Take care!