The process of diagnosis includes:
- A medical history
- Clinical symptoms
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain, optic nerves and spinal cord to identify damage to these areas and to detect the distinctive pattern often seen in Balo’s disease.
- Lumbar puncture (spinal tap) to examine the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be performed
- Blood tests to detect possible infections
- Evoked potential (EP) testing helps find lesions or damaged areas in the nerves, spinal cord, optic nerve or brainstem
