This Is MS Multiple Sclerosis Community: Knowledge & Support

I have placed a previous post early in short (servere symptoms of M.S OR POSSIBLY ADEM.

1st mri without contrast revealed: high signal intensity foci in various regions of the brain in the white matter non specific

4 months later 2nd mri with full contrast revealed: hypersensitivty in frontal lobes no lesions present

Please could someone explain what this means exactly I dont understand what high signal intensity means, but I know what a lesion is, except they seem to have gone??? can anyone help me to understand this please xxxx

A lesion is simply *any* area of damaged tissue (nerves or not). On a brain MRI, some lesions are 'characteristic of' (typical for) MS, and they can be detected (unless they are too small) with or without contrast. The contrast only helps to identify whether any of the lesions are active (currently inflamed).

Beyond that, I wouldn't ask for opinions about MRIs unless you are going to at least quote exactly what the findings/conclusions are in the report. No one can tell you exactly what it means any other way (beyond the fact that there aren't any radiologists here). Among other things that are currently unclear: Hyperintesity and hypersensitivity are not at all the same thing. Did the two reports really use those two terms?

Have you asked your doctor about this yet?

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RRMS dx 3/3/11; Copaxone since 12/1/11

Hiya,

Thanks so much for your response, I have had many tests but still no diagnosis and no further forward
I did have brain and spine with the first mri this is what it said:

Spine - no signifanct cord compression but narrowing of the right neuroexit foraminia at level c6&c7, no lesions were mentioned
Brain mri said: high signal intensity foci in various regions of brain, in the white matter front and right lobes adjacent to the anterior horn of the right ventrical and foci of patchy high signal intensity of the right cerebral hemisphere. flair aquisition demonstrates foci apparent signal intensity located in the region of the grey and white matter overlying the right parietal occipital region....(with out contrast)

I do not really understand these findings

Second mri with contrast revealed less and only in the frontal lobes and revealed highsensitivity - no spine scan was performed and a lot of diseases have been ruled out, although im not sure which ones!! im a totally confussed and cannot see how the mri was normal considering the second one has changed mm??

This doesn't sound like MS, I think (and it's hard to say because we're all wonderfully different snowflakes etc..) that you would be seeing lesion activity, if your symptoms were MS related and it sounds like you're mostly describing features which are non-standard.

I would keep working with your doctors but they're probably still running tests because they are not sure, if they were seeing lesion activity, especially after getting white matter (that is sometime lesions and sometimes just weird artifacts in the machine's readings) then they ran an MRI with contrast and did not find lesions then, they have probably eliminated MS from their differential diagnosis.

Good luck figuring out what is going on, brain shit is very frustrating, I wish you the best from your doctors, and a full recovery.