North Valley Neurology & Sleep © All Rights Reserved.
Looking After Your Health
3815 E. Bell Rd. #2400
Phoenix, AZ 85032
Phone: (602) 482-2116
FAX: (602) 482-9563
Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis
The diagnosis may be difficult early on. Patients may have a clinically isolated syndrome (i.e., a first relapse of paralysis, numbness, etc.) and have an abnormal MRI suggesting high risk for development of definite MS. Currently MS experts will consider treatment of a patient with a first event in the presence of an abnormal MRI. If a patient develops a second relapse, or, if the MRI shows evidence of worsening, the diagnosis can be definitively made. At times evaluation of spinal fluid, or, electrical testing of nerve function (“evoked potential testing”) may be helpful in finalizing the diagnosis. At times it can be necessary to rule out other illnesses that mimic MS, such as Lyme disease, Sarcoidosis, Lupus, or Sjogren’s syndrome.
The diagnosis may be difficult early on. Patients may have a clinically isolated syndrome (i.e., a first relapse of paralysis, numbness, etc.) and have an abnormal MRI suggesting high risk for development of definite MS. Currently MS experts will consider treatment of a patient with a first event in the presence of an abnormal MRI. If a patient develops a second relapse, or, if the MRI shows evidence of worsening, the diagnosis can be definitively made. At times evaluation of spinal fluid, or, electrical testing of nerve function (“evoked potential testing”) may be helpful in finalizing the diagnosis. At times it can be necessary to rule out other illnesses that mimic MS, such as Lyme disease, Sarcoidosis, Lupus, or Sjogren’s syndrome.
