Medical professionals use diagnostic tests to diagnose MS and to gauge the disease's response to treatment.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a test that uses a magnetic field and pulses of radio wave energy (not radiation) to make pictures of organs and structures inside the body.
A lumbar puncture procedure collects the fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord. A professional carefully inserts a needle into the low back below the level where the spinal cord ends.
This testing of the visual, sensory, or auditory systems helps determine blockage of messages going through pathways of the nervous system. Electrodes are placed at various points on the head or over the spine and limbs.
Cognitive testing can help MS patients with impaired cognitive tasks that include memory, attention, language, mood, and others.
Formal testing of visual function may be very important for people with multiple sclerosis and related disorders. Some commonly used tests of visual function include visual field testing, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and visual evoked potentials.
Bladder problems are common in MS and result from demyelination in the nervous system pathways that control the muscles of the bladder and the sphincters of the urinary tract.
A Dexa Scan is an enhanced form of x-ray technology most often used to diagnose osteoporosis or osteopenia, a condition that typically affects woman but may also be found in men.
Lab Testing is necessary for safely administering medications. It is particularly helpful in ruling out other diseases that have symptoms similar to those of multiple sclerosis.
CT and/or PET/CT are studies ordered by your provider to assist in providing diagnoses based on information you provide at your visit and the provider assessment and recommendations.