[Magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis]

Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) is very useful as a method form confirming the lesion distribution of multiple sclerosis(MS). Although MS should be diagnosed primarily on clinical grounds, MRI aids the diagnosis by providing paraclinical evidence for the dissemination in both time and space. Recently, a new guideline for MS diagnosis was proposed by International Panel. This guideline set out to integrate MRI into the overall diagnostic scheme because of its unique sensitivity to pathological changes. In Japanese, however, the so-called optic-spinal form of MS, which is characterized by the selective involvement of the optic nerves and the spinal cord, is relatively common. Moreover, most of Japanese MS patients without oligoclonal bands show atypical brain lesions which do not fulfill the MRI criteria for brain abnormality.