Monosymptomatic sensory symptoms and cerebrospinal fluid immunoglobulin levels in relation to multiple sclerosis.

Of 53 patients with monosymptomatic paresthesiae, 55% had oligoclonal bands and 28% an elevated cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) IgG index. Over a mean observation period of 64 months, nine patients developed clinically definite multiple sclerosis (MS); all of these patients had IgG bands, illustrating the prognostic importance of this CSF aberration. Two lumbar punctures more than one year apart were performed in 31 of the patients, of whom 20 had oligoclonal bands. This abnormality was constant between the time of punctures in all subjects except one, thus behaving as in MS. Similarly, the CSF findings in the 11 patients without oligoclonal bands remained normal over the observation period. The majority of patients with oligoclonal bands had cells in their CSF producing immunoglobulin of one or more of the three main classes, while none of those without oligoclonal bands displayed immunoglobulin-producing cells in CSF. Occurrence of oligoclonal bands in CSF is common in patients with paresthesiae and increases the risk for future development of MS.