Desperately seeking protocol for MRI in MS + spinal cord map

[Lollipop]

Hello

I'm glad to see all you wise minds back in force.

Does anyone have access to the current protocol for MRI (head and spine) for MS? And know when it came into force and when it's being reviewed? I'm most interested in the width of slices – and I suppose I should be interested in strength of scans, but admit that's always been a bit beyond me.

Also … something completely different, I recall one of the ladies posting a link to a wonderful graphic of the spine showing which areas affect what. It was better even than the one at http://www.apparelyzed.com/spinalcord.html - a lot more detailed.

Any help or pointers much appreciated. I'm not actually desperate for it; I just couldn't resist having a Madonna moment there :D .

Welcome back, everyone.

Lolli xx

[xo++]

Hi Lolli,

Here (www.mscare.org/cmsc/images/pdf/MRIprotocol2003.pdf) is the Consortium of MS Centers MRI protocol for the diagnosis and follow-up of MS.

Mark

[Lollipop]

Many thanks for that, Mark, from me and George (who's famous in UK MS circles).

If anybody can come up with a detailed, but easy to use, spinal cord map, I'll be much obliged. The apparelyzed one's not so bad, just a bit fiddly with having to flick to other pages if you want the detail. Not really suitable for pointing beginners to!

Thanks again

Lolli xx

[xo++]

Hi Lolli,

This map (http://www.makoa.org/scimap.htm) is more detailed.

Mark

[Spuggy]

This is a good map.

http://www.neure.com/Index.cfm?file=SpinalCordMap.cfm

[pals1107]

Nice sites! One thing I read on one was that the spinal cord ends at the L2 area, my last neuro told me that it ended at the T10 level and there was no need to check below it. He also said that lesions were almost never found in the thorasic area, so there is no need to check it.

When I look at the charts I have allot of problems that corespond with the L5 area and with the T7-10 area.
Pat

[Spuggy]

Hi Pals you can have lesions in thoracic spinal cord.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=11139729&dopt=Abstract

Some people have a first attack of transverse myelitis which tends to affect the thoracic spinal cord.

[KLD]

Don't confuse the spine and the spinal cord. Their is a relationship, but they are not the same.

The spinal cord tip (the conus medullaris) ends at 3rd coccyx cord segment. This is usually aligned with L2/L3 spinal vetebrae. Below this in the spinal canal there are peripheral nerves called the cauda equina, but no cord. As peripheral nerves, the cauda equina is not effected by MS lesions, but can be by trauma, tumor or displaced disks. Here is a diagram of this:

http://images.main.uab.edu/spinalcord/graphicimages/dspine.gif

You can have MS lesions anywhere in the brain or spinal cord including the sacral cord, but cervical and thoracic areas of the cord are most common.