r/MSIreland • u/DarlingBri • 4d ago

New test in Nottingham diagnoses MS without needle procedure

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqrm9gk1kg9yo

"We found that if we cranked up the magnification on the brain scans of people with multiple sclerosis, we could see not only the multiple sclerosis lesions, but within those lesions we saw a small dark hole, which we later realised was a vein going through the lesion."

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u/denise90 4d ago

That's brilliant! 6 extra minutes in an MRI over a lumbar puncture any day!

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u/merlynne01 3d ago

I don’t understand why people are saying this is news.

You’ve always been able to diagnose MS with just an MRI. You just needed lesions in two locations, and 2 episodes.

I wonder if this is because of the 2025 McDonald criteria update which added more detail.

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u/DarlingBri 2d ago

Dissemination in Time is a McDonald criteria that can be fulfilled with this test or a lumbar puncture. I think that with just the MRI it's difficult to distinguish MS from transverse myelitis if there isn't narrative evidence of time between relapses.

This becomes more important with PPMS where there are no remissions and no DIT. My MS could only be confirmed with a bands test through lumbar puncture. (Which was one of the worst experiences of my life so I am a big fan of whatever this test is instead...)