How does mri diagnose ms

The inside of the MRI scanner can feel small to some people and there are noises caused by changes in the magnetic field, which require ear protection.

In Saskatchewan, we offer MRIs as a publicly funded, community-based service under contract with the Saskatchewan Health Authority and as a private pay exam.

Private MRI services in Saskatchewan are provided in accordance with and under the legislation of the Province of Saskatchewan. Whether public or private, an MRI must be requested by a health care practitioner who will provide a requisition.

Mayfair Diagnostics will schedule your exam and provide you with detailed information to prepare for it. Once your exam is completed, your images will be reviewed by a specialized radiologist who will compile a report that is sent to your doctor. Mayfair Diagnostics is owned and operated by over 50 radiologists who are sub-specialty trained, which guarantees an expert opinion of your imaging.

We provide the most number of MRI exams in Calgary. Mayfair Diagnostics offers MRI imaging as a private pay service at our Mayfair Place location in Calgary, and as both public and private pay exam at our Saskatoon and Regina locations in Saskatchewan.

For more information, please visit our services page or call our toll free number Accessed August 7, Skip to main content.

Toll Free: Mayfair performs screening and diagnostic imaging services in a variety of settings, including 16 clinics across Alberta and Saskatchewan. In MS, the immune system attacks and damages the protective myelin coating that surrounds the nerves.

Healthcare professionals refer to this damage as lesions. MRI scans can identify lesions that occur due to MS. MS lesions can show white matter inflammation, demyelination , and scarring, or sclerosis.

Scans can let healthcare professionals know when lesions are new and growing and potentially how damaging they are to the brain. A person with clinically isolated syndrome CIS is experiencing the first episode of symptoms that occur due to inflammation and demyelination in the central nervous system.

The symptoms of CIS will last for at least 24 hours. CIS does not always progress to another form of MS. People with primary progressive MS PPMS tend to have fewer brain lesions , and the lesions tend to contain fewer inflammatory cells.

They also tend to have more lesions in the spinal cord than people with other forms of MS. A study from found that people with four or more lesions with dark rims were 1. Lesions that appear rimmed on an MRI scan represent ongoing inflammation. The worsening of symptoms is due to the nerve damage that has already occurred. MRI scans do not use radiation. The technician obtains the scan using a large, tube-shaped magnet.

Healthcare professionals can carry out different types of scans during the same MRI session. T-1 scans can involve the use of gadolinium, which is a contrast dye, to look for new or growing lesions. Permanently damaged areas of the brain appear as dark spots.

These are also known as black holes or hypointense lesions. According to some researchers , chronic active lesions are very damaging to the brain. These lesions require treatment as early as possible. A T-1 weighted scan without contrast dye can show hypointense lesions, which may indicate areas of permanent nerve damage.

New MS lesions appear as bright spots on a T-2 scan. These are also known as hyperintense lesions. Typical lesions that appear on a T-2 scan are oval in shape. Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery imaging reduces interference from the spinal fluid to help view the effects of MS. Gadolinium provides useful information about new lesion activity and is helpful in ruling out alternative diagnoses such as neoplasm, vascular malformations, and leptomeningeal disease.

A single gadolinium-enhanced MRI can potentially provide evidence for dissemination in space and time. Spinal cord imaging is equally valuable to rule out spinal stenosis or tumor, and for detecting asymptomatic lesions when brain imaging is nondiagnostic in patients suspected of having MS. MRI evidence plays a supportive role in what is ultimately a clinical diagnosis of MS, in the appropriate clinical situation, and always at the exclusion of alternative diagnoses.

Publication types Review. Substances Gadolinium.