LESIONS / WHITE MATTER - other than location...

I was just wondering how the neuro determines if your white spots/lesions are MS or caused from something else. I know location means a lot but what else do they look for. I had read someone posted something about shape.
Are MS lesions a certain shape?
I haven't actually seen my MRI results, Dr. reviews them in a different room. Just wondering.

[jazzgirl]

They are usually ovoid (oval) in shape.

[kjsstw]

My shapes

Mine are a mix of oval and little round ones.

That being said, you have a legal right to see your MRI scans. In fact, you can get a copy of them.

Kim

[0485c10]

I think they have to connect the clinical presentation to determine the most probable cause of lesions...the mri cannot really determine anything--it just supports or doesn't support clinical observations.

i think ms lesions are commonly found in the corpus colleseum.

[jennie1228]

The lesions can be in different areas. Some locations are specific only for MS, some for MS and Lupus, etc. Depending on your symptoms the diagnosis can take many years.

I have both MS and Connective Tissue Disease. The correct diagnosis took almost 20 years. Unfortunately MRIs help, but if your symptoms overlap with a rheumatic condition it is very difficult to diagnose because the mimic one another and some people have both diseases.

For me I focused on the MRIs for many years/the lesions and it was a waste of time. The MS was not figured out until my bladder went.

Keep youself well and enjoy the time while your symptoms are minimal. I know nobody understands, including the doctors, and am aware how not having a name for what you have is like. However, if I could get back those years I wasted on what it was that I had I would use that energy towards something else.

If I could give anyone advice that is searching for a diagnosis it would be to enjoy it while they can't figure it out. It is most likely going to take a long time. You have to figure out how to be your own doctor and manage your symptoms that are not being taken seriously because there is no name yet. This is unfortunate, not right, but how it often is.

Stay strong!

[lemstar]

Sometimes a white spot can be artifact, that is just a little meaningless blip. But when the same white spot shows up on MRIs over time, then you know its not just some incidental dot.
So what happens over time can be telling with lesions...