Are Periventricular Lesions Specific for Multiple Sclerosis?
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The presence of periventricular lesions (PVL) on MRI scans is part of
the revised McDonald multiple sclerosis (MS) diagnostic criteria. However, PVL can
be found in other neurological diseases including stroke and migraine. Migraine is
highly prevalent in patients with MS. OBJECTIVE: To determine if PVL are specific
for patients with MS compared to stroke and migraine. METHODS: We studied patients
diagnosed with clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS),
migraine, and ischemic stroke. The number, location and the volume of PVL were identified
on brain MRI scans and analyzed. RESULTS: The number and volume of PVL adjacent to
the body and the posterior horn of the lateral ventricles were significantly increased
on fluid-attenuated inversion recovery MRI in RRMS compared to migraine. There were
no significant differences in the total number and volume of PVL in ischemic stroke
patients compared to the age-matched RRMS patients nor in the number and volume of
PVL adjacent to the anterior and temporal horns of the lateral ventricles on FLAIR
images in migraine compared to CIS or RRMS. CONCLUSION: In contrast to PVL adjacent
to the body and the posterior horn of the lateral ventricles, PVL adjacent to the
anterior and temporal horns of the lateral ventricles may not be specific for CIS/RRMS
when compared to migraine, the disease highly prevalent among patients with MS. PVL
are not specific for MS when compared to ischemic stroke.
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https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16051Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.4172/2155-9562.1000150Publication Info
Casini, Gianna; Yurashevich, Mary; Vanga, Rohini; Dash, Subasini; Dhib-Jalbut, Suhayl;
Gerhardstein, Brian; ... Balashov, Konstantin E (2013). Are Periventricular Lesions Specific for Multiple Sclerosis?. J Neurol Neurophysiol, 4(2). pp. 150. 10.4172/2155-9562.1000150. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/16051.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Mary Yurashevich
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology

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