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Avatar universal

Believe radiologist or neurologist?

I have atypical trigeminal neuralgia. I also have fatigue, memory problems, and sometimes struggle to speak what I am thinking. I am also finding I am a bit more clumsy and when I have to pee, I have to pee! I get tingling and numbness in my hands and feet and often get a sensation like I put my foot in hot water. My one eye sometimes feels irritated. I had an MRI and the radiologist noted there are multiple brain lesions indicative of MS with a recommendation to do a spinal MS protocol MRI to confirm.

My neurologist  basically said the images are poor quality but from what he can see the lesions are not MS lesions. He said he doesn't know what the radiologist is talking about. He attributes my foot sensations to some minor degeneration in my lower back vertebra and has essentially taken MS off the table, though he says he does want to see the results of my spinal MRI. He offered no insight into the TN and is just trying to push drugs without figuring out why I have demyelination if not MS.

My question, is his attitude towards the radiologist's report a red flag? Should the radiologist not know best what is on the images? I fear my neurologist will miss a MS diagnosis and want to change neurologists but am torn as he is a respected neurologist.
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Avatar universal
A neurologist may read MRI’s, they may even read a lot of them, but they are not specialized in reading images like a radiologist. That’s what radiologists do, they read X-rays’s/images all day long, day in and day out. My advice is to trust the radiologist’s medical diagnosis, especially if having a good reputation.  
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987762 tn?1671273328
COMMUNITY LEADER
Hi and welcome,

A decade ago the community created a very long comical health page called 'Lies my neuro told me' unfortunately we no longer have the health pages but below is the post that started it, it was good to have a laugh at some of the rubbish that neurologist and specialists say....  

https://www.medhelp.org/posts/Multiple-Sclerosis/Lies-My-Neuro-Told-Me-or-Common-MS-Myths/show/1074879

and get an alternative perspective on what Dr's will tell his/her patients and them not always being correct.

Having said that though, Raidologists don't have enough patient information to diagnose anyone with a neurological condition like MS. MS is usually mentioned along with a few other common medical conditions that are also associated with what has shown up on a patients MRI.

https://www.nationalmssociety.org/NationalMSSociety/media/MSNationalFiles/Research/Updated_McDonald_Criteria_Likely_To_Speed_MS_Diagnosis_And_Reduce_Misdiagnosis.pdf

This above is the latest diagnostic criteria for MS, it  should give you some better ideas as to why your neurologist would be saying the lesions showing up on your brain MRI are not MS demyelinating lesions. I could guess but it would be a lot easier to explain where the conflic arrises from, if you provided what was written on your MRI report.  

Hope that helps......JJ
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