Bob W van Oosten | Search PubMed

PubMed2006

The role of spinal cord imaging in the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: A 29-year-old male presented with fluctuating but progressive sensory disturbances comprising tingling and dysesthesia in his right leg. MRI of the brain showed white matter lesions initially thought to be caused by multiple sclerosis. INVESTIGATIONS: Neurological examination, cerebrospinal fluid examination, laboratory blood testing, brain and spinal MRI scans. DIAGNOSIS: Spinal cord schwannoma. MANAGEMENT: Surgical removal of the schwannoma. An algorithm is provided that clarifies the appropriate MRI work-up for cases where the clinical presentation is suggestive of multiple sclerosis.

Adult↗

PubMed2005

Multiple sclerosis patients show a highly significant decrease in alpha band interhemispheric synchronization measured using MEG.

MEG data were acquired from a group of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and a group of healthy controls, using an eyes-closed no-task condition. An interhemispheric coherence measure (IHCM), reflecting the synchronization between the left and right hemispheres, showed a decrease in the patients, particularly in the alpha band. No comparable differences were seen in the alpha band power or its distribution over the head. The observed difference is in agreement with a reduced long-range connectivity in the brains of MS patients. The IHCM was found to be reproducible in controls over a period of more than 15 months. Further studies should investigate whether MEG derived synchronization measures may be useful as markers for MS disease load.

Adult↗