BMJ  2006;332 (15 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7546.0

Caution needed over role of MRI in diagnosing multiple sclerosis

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on its own has limited ability to rule out or confirm a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in patients with a single attack of neurological dysfunction. Whiting and colleagues (p 875) conducted a systematic review of 29 studies that evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of MRI for multiple sclerosis. Most studies were of poor quality and had short term follow-up. Even when MRI showed many lesions, it could not accurately confirm multiple sclerosis. Similarly, the absence of lesions could not accurately rule out the diagnosis.


Figure 1
 Credit: SPL

 


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Relevant Article

Accuracy of magnetic resonance imaging for the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis: systematic review
Penny Whiting, Roger Harbord, Caroline Main, Jonathan J Deeks, Graziella Filippini, Matthias Egger, and Jonathan A C Sterne
BMJ 2006 332: 875-884. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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