Table 2. Diagnostic considerations in patients with suspected multiple sclerosis or MRI white matter abnormalities
| Age-related white matter changes |
| Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis |
| Behçet disease |
| Bacterial infections (syphilis, Lyme disease) |
| Cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy, subcortical infarcts, and leukoencephalopathy |
| Cervical spondylosis or stenosis |
| HIV infection |
| Human T-lymphotrophic virus I/II |
| Ischemic optic neuropathy (arteritic and nonarteritic) |
| Leukodystrophies (e.g., adrenoleukodystrophy, metachromatic leukodystrophy) |
| Neoplasms (e.g., lymphoma, glioma, meningioma) |
| Migraine |
| Sarcoid |
| Sjögren syndrome |
| Stroke and ischemic cerebrovascular disease |
| Systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid antibody syndromes, and related collagen vascular disorders |
| Unidentified bright objects |
| Vascular malformations |
| Vasculitis (primary CNS or other) |
| Vitamin B12 deficiency |