text: * MRI of head with gadolinium\n\n          o Typical MRI findings support the diagnosis (ie, 50% progress to clinically definite MS within 2 years), but 5% of suspected patients with normal MRI findings similarly progress to MS.\n\n          o T1 shows active lesions (2-6 weeks) reflecting perivascular inflammation and breakdown of blood-brain barrier (BBB). T2 most commonly shows old lesions in periventricular supratentorial white matter, but old lesions occasionally are seen in the cerebellum and brain stem.\n\n          o To visualize the optic nerve, a special MRI technique is required to suppress the fat signal.\n\n          o Acute disseminated encephalitis may be radiographically indistinguishable from MS.\n\n    * MRI of spine with gadolinium\n\n          o For patients with acute transverse myelitis, this is indicated to rule out a compressing lesion.\n\n          o For MS lesions of the spine, a special MRI technique is required to obliterate CSF signal on T2-weighted images.\n\n    * CT scan of the cervical vertebrae: This is used as a screening test for cervical radiculopathy secondary to trauma and for osteoarthritis.