Progressive Gait Difficulties

2021 ◽  
pp. 62-64
Author(s):  
I. Vanessa Marin Collazo
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
Mcdonald Criteria ◽  
Mild Reduction ◽  
History Of

A 58-year-old, right-handed man with a medical history of nephrolithiasis, essential hypertension, and type 2 diabetes sought care for a 6-year history of gait impairment. Initially, he noted subtle left foot and ankle weakness with associated falls that progressed over time. Two to 3 years later he again noted progressive left leg weakness and new arm weakness. Subsequently, progressive pain developed on the soles of his feet in addition to edema with erythematous discoloration around the left ankle and foot. On neurologic examination, he was found to have mild upper motor neuron pattern weakness in the left arm and leg, most pronounced in the left hand finger extensor and left hip flexion and abduction. Left patellar reflex was brisk, and there was an extensor Babinski sign on the left. There was mild reduction in pinprick sensation in both feet. His gait was spastic with left leg circumduction. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed left-sided predominant periventricular and subcortical T2 fluid-attenuated inversion recovery hyperintensities. Magnetic resonance imaging of the cervical and thoracic spinal cord showed intramedullary cord T2 signal hyperintensities, eccentrically located on the left at C3, C5, C6, on the right at C7 to T1, and centrally at T4/T5 and T8/T9. A diagnosis of primary progressive multiple sclerosis was made. The patient met the 2017 McDonald criteria for primary progressive multiple sclerosis. After the diagnosis was confirmed and comprehensive education about the disease and the role of disease-modifying therapy was discussed with the patient, he was started on ocrelizumab. Gabapentin was started for management of painful foot paresthesias. Vitamin D3 supplementation was started. Physical therapy was also initiated. Multiple sclerosis is a chronic immune-mediated demyelinating disease of the central nervous system and is the leading cause of disability in the young population. Approximately 1 million people in the United States currently have multiple sclerosis.

Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loren A. Rolak
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Imaging Study ◽  
Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Imaging Findings ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Mcdonald Criteria ◽  
Highly Sensitive

Because no laboratory test or imaging study is both highly sensitive and highly specific for multiple sclerosis, some uncertainty often accompanies the diagnosis. Various guidelines have been developed to assist the clinician, including the much-modified and commonly used McDonald criteria. Typical features of the history, the physical examination, and magnetic resonance imaging findings usually allow for a secure diagnosis. However, limitations inherent in any testing modality still pose challenges. This is especially true for diagnosis of primary progressive multiple sclerosis because the sensitivity and specificity of the evaluations are lower.

Magnetic resonance imaging predictors of disability in primary progressive multiple sclerosis: a 5-year study

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 398-401 ◽  
Author(s):  
V L Stevenson ◽  
G T Ingle ◽  
D H Miller ◽  
A J Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Ventricular Volume ◽  
Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
Therapeutic Trials ◽  
Rate Of Increase

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become an accepted tool for monitoring therapeutic trials in relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS); it is however unclear whether such MRI markers are equally applicable to primary progressive MS (PPMS). Forty-two patients with PPMS were reviewed five years after commencing a two-year MRI and clinical study. Clinical measures recorded at baseline and five years included both the Expanded Disability Status Scale and the MS functional composite. MRI data collected at baseline and two years included T1 and T2 lesion loads, the number of new brain and cord lesions, and measures of both brain and cord atrophy. The study demonstrated that both the number of new T2 lesions and rate of increase in ventricular volume over two years were modestly predictive of subsequent disease progression and therefore may be useful tools in the testing of new therapeutic agents in PPMS.

Clinical presentation of primary progressive multiple sclerosis 10 years after the incidental finding of typical magnetic resonance imaging brain lesions

2003 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
G V McDonnell ◽  
J Cabrera-Gomez ◽  
D B Calne ◽  
D KB Li ◽  
J Oger
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Signal Intensity ◽  
Incidental Finding ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
The Right

Background: Subclinical multiple sclerosis (MS) has been identified incidentally at autopsy; apparently unaffected individuals with an affected twin have demonstrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) changes consistent with MS, and ‘MRI relapses’ are several times more common than clinical relapses. Case description: A 39-year-o ld, right-handed man underwent MRI and PET scanning in 1986 as a ‘normal’ control in a Parkinson’s disease study, where his father was the proband. MRI indicated multiple areas of abnormal signal intensity in a periventricular and grey -white matter junction distribution. Repeated clinical evaluations over the next 10 years were unchanged until 1996, when he complained of progressive weakness of the right foot and clumsiness in the right hand. MRI now indicated a further area of high signal intensity in the right posterior cord at the level of C 5/C 6. There was mild pyramidal distribution weakness in the right leg with an extensor plantar response on the same side. O ver the next five years there has been mild progression in weakness and fatigue and intermittent Lhermitte’s phenomenon. A t no stage has there been a history of relapse, cerebrospinal fluid examination was normal and evoked responses (visual and somatosensory) are normal. Conclusion: This case demonstrates the pheno menon of subclinical MS, unusually supported by prolonged clinical and MRI follow-up. The patient eventually became symptomatic nine years after MRI diagnosis and is following a primary progressive course. A lthough MRI is known to be sensitive in identifying subclinical ‘attacks’, the pattern illustrated here may actually be quite typical of primary progressive MS and is compatible with the later onset seen in this subgroup of patients.

Progressive change in primary progressive multiple sclerosis normal-appearing white matter: a serial diffusion magnetic resonance imaging study

2004 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Klaus Schmierer ◽  
Daniel R Altmann ◽  
Nadja Kassim ◽  
Hagen Kitzler ◽  
Christian M Kerskens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
White Matter ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Healthy Subjects ◽  
Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Water Diffusion ◽  
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Normal Appearing White Matter

In spite of marked disability, patients with primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS) display smaller lesion volumes on conventional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared with other forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). Hence, damage to the normal-appear ing brain tissue (NA BT) may play an important role in explaining the patho genesis of disability in PPMS. Diffusion-weighted MRI (DW-MRI) probes water diffusion in vivo that can be altered by patho logic changes. Using DW-MRI we investigated diffusion in the NA BT of 15 patients with PPMS over one year. The average apparent diffusion coefficient (A DC av) was measured in 10 regions of interest located in the normal- appearing thalamus and the normal-appearing white matter (NAWM). Six healthy subjects served as a reference. In contrast to healthy subjects, patients with PPMS showed an increment within 12 months of the A DC av in NAWM which was associated with an increase of the T2- and T1-lesion volumes. The A DC av in frontal NAWM was associated with disability as measured by the MS Functio nal C omposite Measure. Serial DW-MRI depicts progressive changes in the NAWM of patients with PPMS. O ur preliminary findings suggest that the processes causing structural damage in NAWM and lesions in patients with PPMS are partially linked and that changes of water diffusion in NAWM depicted by DW-MRI are clinically relevant.

At the heart of primary progressive multiple sclerosis: three cases with diffuse MRI abnormalities only

2008 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 428-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
JNP Zwemmer ◽  
JCJ Bot ◽  
B. Jelles ◽  
F. Barkhof ◽  
CH Polman
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Clinical Course ◽  
Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Focal Lesions ◽  
Primary Progressive ◽  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Mri ◽  
Brain And Spinal Cord ◽  
Made In

We present three patients with a clinical course and cerebrospinal fluid findings consistent with a diagnosis of primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). Extensive and repeated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations showed only diffuse abnormality in brain and spinal cord, but no focal lesions. We propose that these cases represent the most pure form of PPMS, even though according to currently applied criteria this diagnosis can not be made in the absence of focal lesions on MRI. Multiple Sclerosis 2008; 14: 428—430. http://msj.sagepub.com

Progressive Spasticity With a Single Magnetic Resonance Imaging Lesion

2021 ◽  
pp. 20-21
Author(s):  
Samantha A. Banks ◽  
Eoin P. Flanagan
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Oligoclonal Bands ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Fluid Analysis ◽  
Skin Cancers ◽  
Clinical Episode ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Right

A 59-year-old White man with a history of excised basal and squamous cell skin cancers was evaluated for gait difficulties. He had erectile dysfunction but no bowel or bladder dysfunction. He also reported fatigue. He began using a cane for ambulation 2 weeks before evaluation at our facility. His medications included vitamin D and sildenafil. He was a lifelong nonsmoker and had no family history of multiple sclerosis. Neurologic examination at the time of our evaluation 3 years after onset was notable for a positive Hoffman sign on the right and mild weakness of the right triceps but preserved strength elsewhere. He had a spastic gait with moderate spasticity in both lower extremities, hyperreflexic patellar and ankle jerks bilaterally, and bilateral positive Babinski sign. The remainder of the examination was essentially normal. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain showed a single lesion at the cervicomedullary junction and medullary pyramids, more prominent on the right. There was also some accompanying atrophy that was also visible on cervical spine magnetic resonance imaging. Results of cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed a normal white blood cell count, increased protein concentration (108 mg/dL), and positive oligoclonal bands. The progressive nature of his symptoms, spinal fluid results, and lesion appearance were all consistent with a diagnosis of progressive solitary sclerosis. At the time this patient was seen, no immunomodulatory medications for progressive solitary sclerosis were approved, so no immunomodulatory medication was tried. Ongoing symptomatic management was recommended. Progressive solitary sclerosis is a rare variant of multiple sclerosis in which patients have a single central nervous system demyelinating lesion and development of motor progression attributable to that lesion. Patients can initially have a clinical episode followed by progression or can have a progressive course without an initial relapse.

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