Paroxysmal symptoms in multiple sclerosis masquerading as transient ischaemic attacks

Paroxysmal demyelinating events produced sudden onset, transient, recurrent symptoms that were troublesome to our patient and puzzled the referring clinician who mistook them for transient ischaemic attacks or epilepsy. It was important to recognise the true nature of the underlying problem because the symptoms could then be readily treated; this is especially critical because the symptoms, in this case, represent a relapse of multiple sclerosis and, therefore, are significant for examination during the diagnosis.