|
|
I understand there isn't one simple test to confirm MS. What criteria is necessary to confirm MS? |
| MS is a clinical diagnosis in most instances. This means that it is a judgement by the doctor that a condition meets the criteria for the diagnosis, but infrequently is a tissue sample taken to confirm it. There is no diagnostic test that provides information so unique to MS that it cannot also be seen in some other condition, thus the doctor has to put all of the information together to reach a clinical judgement on the diagnosis. In general, the required criteria are that a person must have at least two events within the central nervous system (brain or spinal cord) which occur at two or more different times, and which are not the result of some process other than MS (for example two strokes in two different places at two separate times satisfy the first two criteria but not the third). To meet these criteria, the doctor may use clinical history and examination and diagnostic testing including MRI, evoked potentials and spinal fluid analysis in various combinations. Blood tests are usually done to rule out other conditions which may mimic some of the findings. Even when all of the criteria are met, there are occasional instances in which subsequent events make it clear in retrospect that the original diagnosis of MS may have been wrong. This is rarely the case when the clinical features are typical, however. |
- Dr. Bruce Cohen
Northwestern University
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Send This To A Friend |
|
|
