Du Cane Medical Imaging Ltd/Science Source
The patient is probably presenting with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). MS is characterized by symptomatic episodes that are heralded by symptoms of central nervous system involvement. These attacks last longer than 24 hours and may occur months or years apart and affect different anatomic locations. Consistent with other autoimmune conditions, MS is more common in women. Patients are usually diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 49 years. The condition presents differently from patient to patient; some experience cognitive changes or visual symptoms, while others may have numbness, ataxia, clumsiness, hemiparesis, paraparesis, depression, or seizures. Symptoms can also include fatigue, impaired mobility, mood diagnosed changes, elimination dysfunction, and pain.
Of the four disease courses identified in MS, the most common is RRMS, characterized by a cycle of relapse and remission. In the initial stages, RRMS is characterized largely by an inflammatory pathology which, over time, becomes largely neurodegenerative. Most cases of RRMS evolve to secondary progressive MS after about 15 years. Early in the spectrum of demyelinating disease is clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), defined by a single episode of neurologic symptoms and MRI showing more than two classic lesions seen in MS. CIS patients subsequently will present with a second episode or relapse, at which point the diagnosis of RRMS is usually confirmed.
MS is diagnosed on the basis of clinical findings, exclusion of mimickers, and supporting evidence from the workup, namely MRI of the brain and spinal cord as well as cerebrospinal fluid examination. From a clinical perspective, presentation must align with the constellation of neurologic deficits seen in MS. Typically, the duration of deficit is days to weeks, as seen in the present case. While MRI alone cannot be used to diagnose MS, imaging may confirm diagnosis and offer value in monitoring disease progression in the brain and spinal cord. New lesions on MRI usually occur with relapses in RRMS.
Treatment of MS encompasses immunomodulatory therapy to address the underlying immune disorder together with therapies to relieve symptoms. In general, disease-modifying therapy (DMT) should be considered for patients who have experienced a single demyelinating event and exhibit two or more brain lesions on MRI testing. This recommendation holds true even for patients with CIS or those who have experienced their first clinical event and have MRI features consistent with MS, so long as all other conditions in the differential are ruled out. Pivotal trials support the early initiation of DMT with CIS to delay disability.
Krupa Pandey, MD, Director, Multiple Sclerosis Center, Department of Neurology & Neuroscience Institute, Hackensack University Medical Center; Neurologist, Department of Neurology, Hackensack Meridian Health, Hackensack, NJ
Krupa Pandey, MD, has serve(d) as a speaker or a member of a speakers bureau for: Bristol-Myers Squibb; Biogen; Alexion; Genentech; Sanofi-Genzyme