NeuroTalk Support Groups - Newbie with some Questions!

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Newbie with some Questions!

Hi, I am happy to have found this forum and I am hoping to get some more answers here then my family doctor has given me.

I am Zeara and I am 48 years,
I had a Mri of my pituitary gland and the findings were: multiple areas of increased FLAIR signal seen in the deep white matter of the centrum semiovale and corona radiata bilaterally. Additional change is seen in the region of the right basal ganglia. The number of lesions is greater than typically seen in a patient of this age. This may still be changes of aging and small vessel disease which are mildly more prominent in this patient than typical for age. The distribution of findings is not typical of multiple sclerosis. Numerous other causes for white matter disease are possible.

Now my family doctor tells me I am all fine and then sends me as I have extremly cold fingers, feet and nose & nerve issues ( over 4 years) due to a herniated disk, to a neurologist.
Should I worry, on her refferal she said MS.
I try to understand what I missed during our conversation but I can only come up with a cup of coffee :-)

Do let me know what you think as she could not explain to me what the FLAIR etc meant.

Hi Zeara

Welcome to NeuroTalk :).

FLAIR is a MRI method which suppresses signals from fluids. The effect of this is that solid tissues are focused on. It can be used as part of diagnosis of MS.

The MS forum (https://www.neurotalk.org/forum17/) is very active so you could ask there if any members who live with MS know more about FLAIR in this context.

Best wishes.

Hi Zeara and welcome to NeuroTalk.

Quote:

Do let me know what you think as she could not explain to me what the FLAIR etc meant

FLAIR stands for: Fluid-attenuated inversion recovery. It is simply a sequence in MRI imaging and is used in the diagnostic process of many different things. In the case of Multiple Sclerosis it helps "light up" active lesions (inflammation)

Your MRI is viewed by a Radiologist who then writes up a report about findings and possible reasons for those findings. The MRI is not a diagnosis. It is up to a Neurologist or other specialist to determine what has caused lesions on your MRI, this is usually done by more testing to rule in/out all possibilities.