Lecture 13: Multiple Sclerosis Flashcards
1
Q
MS
A
- Autoimmune demylinating disorder
- Elapsing episodes of immunologically mediated demyelination and the lesions are separated in time and space
2
Q
Prevalence
A
- 20-40 diagnosis
- 1M:2F
- 85% have relapsing remitting
- 15% have progressive pattern
3
Q
Pathogenesis
A
- T cell mediated inflammatory diseases
- CD4+ T cells are react against self myelin antigens
-> activation of microglia and macrophages
-> mg and mp and their injurious products cause
demyelination - Clinical symptoms are due to myelin loss effect in electrical transmission along axons
4
Q
Remyelination
A
- remyelination can take place but this works best in the early stages of the disease
- some complete remyelination of MS lesions of patients with early MS (40-50% of cases)
- patients with chronic MS lesions only show complete remyelination of lesions in about 10-15% of cases
5
Q
Aetiology
A
- Cause unknown
- Likely to be an interaction of several diff factors:
- immunology
- infectious agents
- epidemiology
- environment: Vit D deficiency
- genetic
likely to be the result of a genetic susceptibility which predisposes to an inappropriate immune response to viral infections
6
Q
5 major health problems
A
- motor control: muscular spasms and problems with weakness, coordination, balance
- fatigue
- other neurological symptoms: vertigo, pins and needs, neuralgia, visual disturbances (optic neuritis)
- continence problems
- Neuropsychological symptoms: memory loss, depression, cognitive difficulties
7
Q
Diagnosis
A
- MRI: detecting brain lesions (plaques)
- CSF: elevated IgG levels and oligoclonal bands
8
Q
Attacks
A
- acute onset over a few days
- increasing symptoms over a week
- few weeks without change
- gradual recovery over a couple of months
9
Q
Macroscopically
A
- Plaques in brain and SC
- Usually at least 12 plaques
- Active lesions and old lesions
- generally a correlation between location of lesions and clinical symptoms
