Thank you very much for responding to my concern. On friday my daugther did go back to the Doctor and confirmed she has MS. Andrea will be going to an MS clinic, also will have a spinal MRI test and a second spinal tap.
Thanks Mary Lou
Hi there. The various causes of brain lesions on an MRI are brain aneurysm, brain arteriovenous malformation, brain tumor, hydrocephalus, stroke, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury. A strong degree of suspicion needs to be kept for multiple sclerosis. . Multiple sclerosis is a chronic demyelinating neurological disorder where the disease phase is characterized by active phase and remissions. It has multiple symptoms and signs and is a diagnosis of exclusion. The symptoms of multiple sclerosis are loss of balance, muscle spasms, numbness in any area, problems with walking and coordination, tremors in one or more arms and legs. Bowel and bladder symptoms include frequency of micturition, urine leakage, eye symptoms like double vision uncontrollable rapid eye movements, facial pain, painful muscle spasms, tingling, burning in arms or legs, depression, dizziness, hearing loss, fatigue etc. You have many of these symptoms. The treatment is essentially limited to symptomatic therapy so the course of action would not change much whether MS has been diagnosed or not. Apart from clinical neurological examination, MRI shows MS as paler areas of demyelination, two different episodes of demyelination separated by one month in at least two different brain locations. Spinal tap is done and CSF electrophoresis reveals oligoclonal bands suggestive of immune activity, which is suggestive but not diagnostic of MS. Demyelinating neurons, transmit nerve signals slower than non-demyelinated ones and can be detected with EP tests. These are visual evoked potentials, brain stem auditory evoked response, and somatosensory evoked potential. Slower nerve responses in any one of these is not confirmatory of MS but can be used to complement diagnosis along with a neurological examination, medical history and an MRI and a spinal tap. Therefore, it would be prudent to consult your neurologist with these concerns. Take care.