I was dx’d some years ago and am a tad out of touch with things.
When people say they have lesions in their brain or on their spine how do they know that?
Does the specific site of the lesion correspond to a specific disability/problem?
Do people who Don’t have m.s. have brain lessions?
Thanks
There are two ways to know where lesions are: seeing them on MRI scans or working it out from clinical signs, e.g. very brisk leg reflexes usually means a lesion on the spinal cord and nystagmus usually means a lesion in the cerebellum, in the brain.
Most people have at least one MRI these days and everyone can get copies of the reports and the scans themselves if they want.
MS lesions don’t always correspond to symptoms though and a lot of lesions don’t even cause symptoms (they are referred to as “clinically silent”). So, while a radiologist could look at someone’s scan and have a pretty good guess what the patient’s symptoms are like, it is highly unlikely that they would get it completely right.
There are lots of causes of lesions including things like stroke, infections, some genetic conditions, encephalitis, migraine and vitamin deficiency. Different types of conditions tend to form lesions that are quite distinctive in terms of location, shape and distribution so a radiologist can narrow down the possible causes very quickly. When there are several possibilities, the neuro uses clinical exam findings, other test results and medical history to decide which one is the cause.
Hth.
Karen x
The site of my spinal lesion exactly corresponds to the point on my torso at which numbness starts.