MRI Impressions, can someone clarify?

[Lisa2U]

My doctor told me that my MRI (brain without contrast) was normal. This test was done in January 2011, but I never obtained a copy of the results until last week.

When I obtained a copy of the radiologists report, the impressions were listed as followed..

IMPRESSIONS
1. Single demyelination focus within the right, frontal subcortical white matter, non specific.
2. Differential considerations are within normal ranges, miscrovascular ishemic demyelination and demyelination disease.  

I have had several neurological symtoms that have progressively worsened since 2005.
These symptoms include numbness, weakness and tremors in both legs and right arm. Cramps and spasms in my legs. Incontinence, vertigo and daily nausea.
I do NOT have diabetes and my neurologist at the time wanted this MRI done to rule out MS.
Like I said, my doctor who I was seeing at the time told me this test result was normal and she offered no follow up treatment. She basically blew me off.

I'm in the process of finding another neurologist, but I was wondering if these MRI impressions are indeed normal.
What the heck is "Single demyelination focus within the right, frontal subcortical white matter, non specific"

Can you explain what this is in simple terms?

thanks
Lisa

[yellowbean]

What they are describing is an incredibly common finding, but unfortunately is non-specific.  All it means is that there is a small area where the brain has a "defect" as it where, these occur very commonly and generally increase a lot with age and we call this "small vessel ischemic changes".  Risk factors for these "lesions" include diabetes, high blood pressure, and smoking...

BUT....here is the "problem" with these lesions...they are non-specific, and even though they are most commonly related to "small vessel ischemic changes" there are many other things that cause relatively indistinguishable changes...These include MS and Lyme disease among a very verly long list of things.

Common things being, well, common...statistically these changes are most likely "small vessel ischemia", but if there is a reason to believe otherwise could correspond to some other white matter pathology.

[Lisa2U]

I don't know if it helps or not but I should probably add that I am a 39 year old female. Other than hypertension (on medication for this), and these ongoing symptoms for the past 6 years, I am otherwise healthy.

These symptoms didn't start all at once. It started off, in 2005, with a simple pins & needles sensation in my left foot..from this, it progressed to a complete loss of sensation in my left toes and hells with my foot going completly numb, on and off throughtout the day and night.
The same thing then started happening on my right foot and leg...I also had severe charlie horses or spasms that would occur both in my toes and my calves.

As of the beginning of this year 2011, I have now completely lost the sensation in both my feet (toes and heels) and both feet go numb during the course of the day and night. I have a tremor and distinct weakness in both my legs, although my right side is much worse than the left. My right arm and hand is also affected with a loss of sensation in my fingertips (pinky and middle fingertips), weakness in my right arm and a tremor in my hand and arm that comes and goes. Some days the tremor is quite bad and I am unable to hold certain objects (spoons, forks, pens). Other days it's just like a jello sensation in my legs and arm.
My coordination and overall balance is messed up making me stumble frequently when I walk.
Every morning, I wake up and either both of my feet, parts of my legs or both of my hands/arms being completly numb and I have to lay there for several minutes until the feeling comes back so I can get out of bed.

There isn't a day that goes by that I am free from these symptoms.