Pathophysiology

The MRI displays a person with MS. The MRI shows the sclerotic plaques associated with the condition.

What is MS?

MS is a multicentric, multiphasic inflammatory disorder of the central nervous system (CNS) in which focal lymphocytic infiltration leads to damage to myelin and axons. The inflammation is initially transient with a degree of remyelination but over time there is chronic neurodegeneration. The end stage is the formation of sclerotic plaques [3].

What is the underlying disease process?

The disease process starts with the migration of reactive T-lymphocytes across the blood brain barrier. The exact nature of the target auto-antigen is not clear but is most likely to be a myelin protein.

Learning-bite

MS is an acquired inflammatory neurodegenerative disorder.