Saturday, January 10, 2009 Buffy asks

Q: my mri scan showed non specific high t2 abnormalities in frontal subcortical white matter

I recently had a mri scan as I suffer with severe right sided headaches/migraines and numbness and tingling in the right side of my body along with chronic fatigue/lethargy, depression/constipation, vision blurring in my right eye, I feel as if I am dragging my right leg and sometimes during the night my arm and leg has no feeling, I also have high blood pressure and I am on medication for this. All these symptoms have got worse over the years.

My MRI scan showed Non-specific high t2 abnormalities in the frontal subcortical white matter.

I discussed my result with my GP and she said It looks like I have MS and that I will probably be sent for a lumbar spine puncture to verify this. I have thought about this and have had irritating problems on and off with my health since I had infected chicken pox at the age of 24, (I have read it can be triggered by a childhood virus) so maybe I have had it 19 years and not known (I am now 43) Do my symptoms and scan result sound like I have MS?

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Answers (2)

Lisa Emrich, Health Guide

1/11/09 12:53am

Hi Buffy,

Welcome. You've certainly got many symptoms going on which could be caused by a variety of diseases. But if your GP is already thinking MS, then it makes sense to consult with a neurologist (preferably one who specializes in MS).

When you had the MRI scans done, did they inject a dye substance into your vein? Typically a contrast agent (gadolinium) is used to help "light up" active lesions on the MRI films.

Here is some information onsite which deals with the MS diagnosis procedure. Basically, the diagnosis of MS is one of excluding other possibilities.

Has your GP conducted extensive bloodwork looking for other possible causes, such as vitamin deficiencies, Lyme disease, Lupus, etc.? Did you also have an MRI done on your cervical and thoracic spines, with and without contrast?

Another set of tests often used in diagnosing MS are the Evoked Potentials which can help determine areas of nerve damage or deficiency. The Lumbar Puncture may or may not give you an indication of demyelination. What they are looking for are elevated IgG antibodies and oligoclonal bands, however 5-10% of MS patients do not have abnormalities in their cerebral spinal fluid.

Putting all of the results together, including evidence of demyelination occuring in two different places of the central nervous system during separate periods of time. Your symptoms certainly sound as if it 'could' be MS, but there could still be different causes.

Good luck with the future testing. I hope that it's not MS, but if it is, then you've found some very supportive folks here at Health Central who understand what you're going through.

Keep us posted on how you're doing.

Lisa