After an optic neuritis in 1990 I had an MRI of the brain showing diffuse white lesions in the deep and subcortical white matter of the frontal and parietal lobe,approximate size 4 or 5 mm. One in occipital lobe. The periphrial location of these lesions is not characteristic of MS.

Also there is a degree of cortical atrophy of the cerebral hemisphere(not sure what that means.)

I had other MRI's in 2000 and 2002 with no changes from 1990.

Are these the areas typical of lyme lesions
and would one expect changes over 12 years with lyme lesions or do they stay unchanged?

I have been diagnosed with lyme disease, haven't started treatment and wondering if this may be an indication of a lyme presence from way back that was dormant? Symptoms started to appear after a car accident in 1999.

This may seem like a wacky question, but bear with me. How old are you?

Also, did the report note the size of the lesions? (usually in millimeters, mm)

And the report should have said if the lesions were on the T2, T1 or FLAIR images.

If you have any of this info, that would be helpful...

~DM

T2 lesions can reflect benign edema (would have been gone later though), inflammation, or tissue loss among other things.

Lesions over 3 mm do "count" when making an MS diagnosis and, as the previous poster noted, cortical atrophy is also something they look for in MS but I think they look for at least a certain number of lesions. Also, the number generally progresses over time. It sounds like that's not been the case for you.

Non-age related atrophy can also be caused by a number of other brain disorders. But it sounds like you are being followed by a neurologist since you've had follow up MRIs, no?

How was MS ruled out? Did you have a spinal tap? Do you know if they tested for something called oligoclonal bands?

Also, it totally depends on your symptoms too whether it is consistent with MS or not (although many do overlap with Lyme).

When you do see your LLMD, I would certainly bring these films along and have them checked out, but I would also follow up on the MS thing if you haven't already.

In September 2004 had a rheumetologist test and say it was definately not lupus.

However I was bit by two wood ticks, one in the 1970's and the other left a rash a number of years ago.

This is why I ask if there was a possibility of these being connected to lymes.

If the MRI has remained unchanged for such a long period, what ever the cause of the 1990 observations where, it appears to be arrested. I would think that if you developed the lessions as a result of Lyme, you would have been in pretty bad shape with significant neurological involvement back then.
I would also venture to suggest that if the initial cause was Lyme, the lessions would have progressed if no treatment has been given, but you would have a better idea on this; ie. have the symtoms progressed from that point?

Lesions of unknown origin ie (UBO- unknown bright objects) are found in quite a few people that do MRI's. The probability of seeing one increases propotionally with the subjects age. As DM noted, there are a lot of possible causes and in most cases the significance is unkwown, particulalry when there are no symptoms.

In general, thare are many asymtomatic infections (bacterial,fungal and parasitic) that just sit and "simmer" with out causing a noticable symptom until the body is exposed to severe fatigue or stress. This effect is well known in the large animal veterinarian community where some DVM's catch diseases from thier "patients". Some of these diseases are as hard as lyme to get rid of and they never really get rid of them. When the poor fellow gets over tired, the disease flairs up and can be debilitating. Bruccelosis is well know to present this way.

Atrophy means shrinkage. This happens with a lot of neurological diseases as well as age. It is also a subjective assesment that can be accounted for in naturally occuring variation between subjects. So if has not changed in 15 years, not to worry, you may have been born that way.

One last interesting note, a friend of mine who specializes in enviromental medicine, sees a lot of paitents of last resport. it appears that a lot of people go along not feeling that well but are bascially 100% functional. When that are placed under significant mental stress such as a loss of a loved one, home or bussiness or severe injury these people suddenly "crash" and become extremely ill. This is thougth to occur as a result of a small reduction of the already taxed immune response which allows the infection to progress at a higher rate than it can be eliminated by the bodies antibodies.

Maybe this is what happened to you. I have seen a number of posts echoing your observation (a few of them also on car crahses) on the BBS so it appears that others have had the same experience.

Back in 1990, there where not many MRI machines arround, where did you get yours done?