Dear tmarie and all:
This is what my MRI, from January 14, said:
"There is mild periventricular white matter gliosis with scattered foci of increased signal through the perventricular white matter of of the frontal lobes as well as within the subcortical white matter of the right frontal lobe, the largest measuring 4mm in diameter."
Now, of course, that sounded really scary. It turns out, to the best of my ability to state this accurately, that this means that there are scattered little holes (gliosis) in the white matter of a couple of parts of my brain. They show up on the scan.
This is evidently often associated with old age. I was 67 when the MRI was done, nearing my 68th birthday.
The doctor wasn't in the least bit concerned about the white matter gliosis. My husband, who is a PhD Biologist, was on the faculty of a large Medical school, did research on transplantation immunology (some of his work laid the foundations for current transplantation protocols), and taught Gross anatomy for 10 years (he knows the human body, physically, functionally, and biochemically, inside and out). He also determined that the white matter gliosis is nothing to worry about for ME.
BUT, they can be related to migraines, MS, vitamin B deficiency, and the risk factors for ateriosclerosis (high cholesterol, high blood pressure etc.).
I don't know the age of everyone who posted here, but here is what I found:
http://www.dizziness-and-balance.com/disorders/central/pvm.htmCauses of periventricular white matter lesions:
Causes of periventricular white matter (PWM) lesions include normal senescent changes (then they are called UBO's, for "unidentified bright objects), small strokes, and disorders related to multiple sclerosis (MS). PWM are correlated with vitamen B6 (pyridoxine) deficiency.
My physician determined that I do not have MS (I had a spinal tap after this MRI), but you need to get clarification from your physician and perhaps a second opinion.
The hard part is that doctors give us results, or throw out terms, without realizing how scary and confusing they can be.
I hope this is a bit of help. We are all dealing with so many different issues and different levels of the insanity of Sjogren's. All we can do is share what we know, and try to support each other.
Kisses
Carolina