one clinical episode

Last reviewed 06/2022

If a patient present with a single episode suggestive of MS then:

  • if two or more sites in the central nervous system were affected by the first episode then a diagnosis of MS can be made if subsequent lesions, disseminated in time, are observed on an MRI scan
    • the MRI lesions do not need to be clinically evident
  • if one site in the central nervous system is affected during the first episode then a diagnosis of MS can be made if:
    • lesions are disseminated in space on MRI (if the CSF shows oligoclonal bands then the MRI criteria are less rigorous), and
    • lesions are disseminated in time on MRI