clinical features
Last reviewed 06/2022
The cardinal feature of multiple sclerosis is the presence of multiple neurological defects which are separated in time and space.
Clinical features of multiple sclerosis include:
- optic neuritis:
- usually unilateral
- rarely bilateral
- neurogenic bladder dysfunction:
- urgency is common
- incontinence and frequency may also be present
- impotence
- sensory deficits:
- tingling in restricted distribution, e.g. spreading up a leg over a couple of days and resolving over a couple of weeks
- Lhermitte's phenomenon: a sensation like electricity passing down the spine on neck flexion
- trigeminal neuralgia with facial weakness and sensory loss
- upper motor neurone deficit:
- most commonly a spastic weakness of the legs
- cerebellar damage:
- ataxia
- dysarthria
- nystagmus
- vertigo is common
- dementia in the later stages