Magnetic resonance imaging in clinically definite multiple sclerosis

Forty-two patients with clinically-definite multiple sclerosis were examined by magnetic resonance imaging using a 1.5-T instrument. Magnetic resonance imaging detected an abnormality in 90% of patients. In four patients, no lesions were demonstrated. The number, size and site of the lesions by magnetic resonance imaging were compared with the patients' clinical status and other variables. The Kurtzke disability status scale score increased in patients with corpus callosum atrophy, and brainstem and basal ganglia lesions, and correlated with the total number of lesions. No correlation was shown between the findings of magnetic resonance imaging and disease duration, age, sex or pattern-reversal visual-evoked potentials. This article highlights the variety of magnetic resonance images that is obtained in patients with clinically-definite multiple sclerosis.