Incidental finding on MRIpoints to multiple sclerosis

An incidental finding of multiple sclerosistype lesions during brain MRI is no fluke. A new study has found that some patients develop the physical symptoms of the disease within five years of the abnormalities' discovery on MRI.

The study involved 44 subjects with different indications for brain MR who showed abnormalities similar to those that occur in MS. The researchers monitored the participants to determine whether they developed the disease. About a third of participants developed MS symptoms within approximately five years. Investigators noted, however, that more research is needed to fully understand the correlation between these abnormalities and MS.They published results in the Dec. 10 online issue of Neurology.