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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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How Can Multiple Sclerosis Be Diagnosed?

A brain mri done in 2016 showed possible MS. I had alot of testing in 2016. But tests were normal. I am still having symptoms of MS. But my neurologist said it s like my brain mri is abnormal and it looks like MS but the tests show normal. Does this sound like MS? I was told a long time ago that MS is hard to diagnose.
Mon, 28 May 2018
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Neurologist,  's  Response
Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

The main test for diagnosing MS is MRI. If clinical picture and MRI indicates MS it may be enough for a diagnosis. So if you have MS symptoms and your neurologist says MRI looks like MS, it's hard for me to understand why hasn't a diagnosis of MS been made. Perhaps you might have missed something in your neurologists explanation, should discuss it again with him/her. As for whether MS is hard to diagnose that depends, it is a condition which has many presentations. In most cases diagnosis is simple when clinical picture and MRI fits. There are atypical cases though which may be difficult to diagnose and differentiate from other conditions. In such cases tests like lumbar puncture with cerebrospinal fluid analysis as well as evoked potentials can help the diagnosis.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
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How Can Multiple Sclerosis Be Diagnosed?

Hello and Welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice. The main test for diagnosing MS is MRI. If clinical picture and MRI indicates MS it may be enough for a diagnosis. So if you have MS symptoms and your neurologist says MRI looks like MS, it s hard for me to understand why hasn t a diagnosis of MS been made. Perhaps you might have missed something in your neurologists explanation, should discuss it again with him/her. As for whether MS is hard to diagnose that depends, it is a condition which has many presentations. In most cases diagnosis is simple when clinical picture and MRI fits. There are atypical cases though which may be difficult to diagnose and differentiate from other conditions. In such cases tests like lumbar puncture with cerebrospinal fluid analysis as well as evoked potentials can help the diagnosis. Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.