Multiple Sclerosis Mri Brain White Matter Lesions
White matter appears white because the protective wrapping around nerve fibers or axons is a pale fatty tissue called myelin.
Multiple sclerosis mri brain white matter lesions. Ms related lesions appear on mri images as either bright or dark spots depending on the type. Since myelin coats the nerve fibers that travel through both the brain and the spinal cord demyelination creates lesions in both areas. Mri scans can detect damage in the central nervous system which comprises the brain and spinal cord. Axons are like the electric wires of the brain says rhonda.
The key question then is whether a patient s mri shows ms like lesions. 2 a corollary is that presence of multiple white matter lesions does not increase likelihood of ms as long as none or very few of the lesions are typical of ms. The role of mri in diagnosing ms if you have symptoms of ms your doctor may order an mri scan of your brain and spinal cord. 1 they are usually found in the brain s white matter typically near the ventricles but they can be located anywhere in the brain.
Specifically the periventricular lesions and the more peripheral white matter lesions near the gray matter white matter junction are typical mri findings in multiple sclerosis. The images produced allow doctors to see lesions in your cns. This contention is based on the premise that cerebral demyelination signs on mri are sufficiently recognizable and characteristic to be considered a sine qua non of ms diagnosis. You can see them in other diseases which involve the blood vessels of the brain causing vasculitis that is inflammation of the blood vessels and this list includes neurosarcoidosis.