MRI "Suggests MS" but could it be something else???

[jillmb]

Hi everyone,
I am new here but am getting so much info from this site! I had an MRI on Tuesday and it said "Findings suspicious for a demyelinating disease such as multiple sclerosis" also in aother section it said "The findings suggest multiple sclerosis".

So of course I am devastated thinking yes, I have MS, but what if it's not? Are there other diseases out there that can have the same traits from an MRI? I'm guessing no, because why would they specifically just say MS?

I am seeing a neurologist next Thursday who specializes in MS so hopefully I can get some answers. This has just been so devastating and hard to cope with! It came out of no where, so I am just shocked and scared.

Thanks, Jill

[Jules A]

Hey Jill,
It is horrifying at first, sigh. FWIW when I asked my MS specialist about my MRI he basically said that if I was in my 70s he would figure I had some small strokes by looking at my MRI. Since I was only 40 at the time there should have been zero lesions.

It is what it is and since it was quacking like a duck I quickly moved on to the "what do I do now?" phase.

Wishing you a gentle journey. Please keep us posted.

[cosake]

Glad you are collecting information - that way you can be a good advocate for your own health and be able to ask good questions when you see the doctor.

There are other different things that could be happening, and I'm sure the doctor will discuss them with you.

If you have had any symptoms that you think may be MS symptoms you should note them and take it with you.

Also, write any questions that you have down and take them with you. Once you get in the doctor's office you may forget or get sidetracked if you don't have them written down. I print and take a list with me to remind me.

Good luck !

[Red7172]

There are other possibilities but I am not a doctor or a healthcare professional. A mri is just one of the tools they use to help with a dx. Since there is no one test for MS it is kind of a rule everything else out.

Lesion can be caused by many things depending on your age, headaches, and many other things that you (webmd has a section on brain lesions)

[Jenny3838]

Hi jillmd,
There are many other conditions and diseases that mimic MS. I am sure that your doctor will run many tests. An MRI is a tool to help with a diagnosis.
Sometimes hyperintensities "lesions" are part of the aging process and can be seen in even young people (late twenties). They are usually of no consequence. If hyperintensities "lesions" are in areas that are suspicious for MS, such as the temporal horns or periventricular regions then it can be MS, iF the clinical symptoms fit. Did you get an MRI because you had symptoms?

Many years ago when they first started doing MRI's they used to always think that all of these lesions were serious. Now they are called unidentified bright objects or UBOs if they do not go along with any symptoms or are not in areas suspicious for MS. By the time someone is in their 40's they usually have quite a few UBO's. Migraines can also create lesions in the brain.

Hi everyone,
I am new here but am getting so much info from this site! I had an MRI on Tuesday and it said "Findings suspicious for a demyelinating disease such as multiple sclerosis" also in aother section it said "The findings suggest multiple sclerosis".

So of course I am devastated thinking yes, I have MS, but what if it's not? Are there other diseases out there that can have the same traits from an MRI? I'm guessing no, because why would they specifically just say MS?

I am seeing a neurologist next Thursday who specializes in MS so hopefully I can get some answers. This has just been so devastating and hard to cope with! It came out of no where, so I am just shocked and scared.

Thanks, Jill

[Sequoia]

My initial MRI also said "findings suggestive of multiple sclerosis"...but as soon as my neurologist took a look at the films he said I definitely had MS because I had Dawson Fingers (he went ahead and ruled out the various diseases that can minic MS, just to be 100% sure). I think radiologists are very cautious about making a diagnosis, preferring to leave that for the neurologist (or other doctor) who ordered the MRI.

[JoanFrances]

Hi there

Of course it is natural to want the tests results to be of something that can be fixed, and until all the testing is done you won't know for sure.

I know it is hard and easier said then done, but try to relax until you know for sure. Even then you may find that you will be in denial for a long while

If it turns out to be MS, you will life will have new norms, maybe the new norms will be daily, or you may not change for years. Wish we could tell you what will happen to you and when. Everyone with MS is different. Yes we share many of the same sx but they don't happen to everyone, nor do they happen at the same time for everyone.

I wish you tons of luck and we are here for you, so come back and vent any time you need to.

[autotech]

I had 4 lesions on the very top of my brain, the neuro said that might be caused from my many years of heavy smoking, but then came the clincher... a lesion at the top of my spine..

[gypsy]

Hi jillmb,
My PMD used the same wording. It was my Nuero that said "You have MS".

Before I talked to the Nuero, I kept thinking the same thing, "Maybe it's something else..."

Talk to the Nuero. Cosake made a great suggestion- Take a list of your symptoms with you to the appointment.

It's difficult to be in a diagnosis limbo. Knowing is half the battle. Big hugs to you.

[RedTalon]

It could be other things, a few things can cause lessions that would show on mris. But to be honest the other options are not pleasent, did your doctor say if he saw lessions or not? And did you ask for a copy of the mri yourself they sometimes do give copies you can take with you on a disc.

Has for othjer tests that can be done could ask for a spinal tap though that is not 100% but if it comes back postive for ms and te mri does have lessions should find out this from your doctor its a sure thing you do, but the other illness that memic ms are things like parkstian and so on, but if you have lessions it rules some of those out, just ask what your mri showed, and asked for the spinal tap has well if your unsure your neuroglist should be able to set the tap up and sometimes they do it them selves on another appointment of-course.

I am not a doctor just offering advice based on my own research and talking with my own neruoglist.

[Shamby]

I also had the same wording on my MRI(s), and my first neurologist told me he thought my lesions were caused by migraines and not to worry.

However, a second neurologist and my current MS specialist told me that the lesions were absolutely not caused by migraines. Apparently, migraines cause - at most - very small pinpoint-type lesions, whereas the MS lesions are larger and have a distinctive shape. And, as a previous poster mentioned, MS lesions tend to occur in particular areas of the brain.

I would agree with Warren that MS actually seems to be the best of the possibilities when it comes to what could cause MS-type lesions. There are disease-modifying treatments and lots of support - including people on this board! Good luck to you.

[darius_kaspar]

spinal tap

The only sure fire way to know for sure it's MS and not something else is a lumbar puncture, also called a spinal tap. I had one years back when my doctor suspected I may not have MS but something else.
It's not a fun procedure, but worth knowing, I had a migraine for a week following.
Good luck either way

[cosake]

I think that the last post from darius is incorrect, and I think that there was just another thread on this board about this same subject.

If you check the McDonald Criteria, a positive LP is not required for MS diagnosis.

http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/DiagnosticCriteria.html

[Shandi]

The MRI results can be extremely frustrating. Yes, there are lesions that can show up on a MRI that are not MS, but MS has certain characteristics and placement that typify the disease. It is hard to distinguish this when you have but a few lesions sometimes, but when it starts looking a little more Swiss cheese-ish, there really is nothing that compares with it.

Radiologic reports use lingo such as suggestive or concern for MS because they do not make the final diagnosis. They have limited information (or sometimes none) to base radiological findings from. They might know you had an episode of ON or numbness, but that is about it.

From what I have seen, strokes most closely mimic MS on the MRIs, but rarely are strokes a concern in the corpus callosum portion of the brain and their shapes are more eradict; most MSers will have them there eventually. Radiologists consider size, shape, and placement. While not everyone presents in the same way, there are hallmarks of a MS MRI that just are not found in any other disease. Of course, if you have minimal lesions, it can be hard to tell. My husband went from no lesions to one lesion in a 2 year span. In 5 years he has gone from one lesion to multiple (I count 10 or so now).

I can't speak about how devastating it is to receive a diagnosis; my husband is waiting for his neuro appointment where I am sure his 3 bouts of ON separated by 18 months each, hypogeusia and the current numbies will be confirmed as MS. It is good to get a diagnosis; certainly better than guessing. I know when I was diagnosed with RA, I went over a year of doctor hopping to get a DX. I was told it was depression or post-partum more specifically; or I was doing it to get attention away from my baby! When my son was exhibiting symptoms of rapid weight loss (he was a little chubby prior, but he went from 109 - 91 pounds in a 2 month period) his doctor wanted to know his secret for weight loss; it was type 1 diabetes that went another 3 weeks before being diagnosed and his kidneys were beginning to shut down.

Diagnosis means getting on with your life. Nothing is too much worse than being in limbo; I am sure the limbo-ers will confirm that!