Quix!!! Can you help with this...

"As compared to the serum, isoelectric focusing immunofixation reveals 14 igG bands that are unique to the CSF. This is consistent with intrathecal synthesis of immunoglobulin and is considered to be a positive result for the oligoclonal bands. Oligocolonal bands are present in over 90% of patients with MS."

So my question is Is this saying I have 14 O bands? The nurse told me I had 8. I am just wanting to know what is meant by 14 igG. Does this mean I have 14 O bands?  I read somewhere in my report that my serum had no O bands but I can not find it now.

This sealed my MS diagnosis. Nurse said I have 8 O  bands.  I am not sure how you get 8 O bands out of 14 igG bands. . Either way is 8 or 14 O bands a lot?

LA
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[RedFlame]

I'm no Q. but 8-14 O-bands would certainly be a goodly amount.  14 bands that are unique definatley means they are all different than the blood serum.

Did you have an LP earlier that showed 6 bands and now show 14 maybe.  So the nurse is saying that you have 8 new ones?

Just a thought.  I'm sure Q will chime in though

Red

[tonyad]

   Red did a very good job on trying to explain the results :)
Hope it helped a bit.

~Tonya

[LATW]

This is the same LP I posted about last month.  I read something that brought up the question in my mind again.

It does seem to say I have 14 O bands.  There is an area in my test results that said I had no O bands in my serum BUT I can not find it again.  There are MANY pages of results!!

LA

[twopack]

It sounds to me like this is saying you have 14 UNIQUE O-Bands, without stating how many total there may be been.  I thought from reading past explanations that O-Bands unique to the CSF were the only ones that mattered for a MS diagnosis and 14 is more than enough, even when you don't hold the mayo.

What I always wonder about is the 90 or 95% of MS patients are positive for O-Bands statement.  It seems like a self-fulfilling percentage to me.  If doctors won't/can't diagnosis without, then the % stays high, despite many negative reports.

Mary

[Quixotic1]

LA - Sounds like the nurse was just plain wrong.  But, there is no implication that 14 O-Bands is any worse than 8.  They are both enough to support the diagnosis.  they speak of a huge amount of immune-inflammation going on in your noggin.

Mary - You and I are thinking alike.  When you make sure not to diagnose anyone without O-Bands, then the only people you see with MS have them.  It truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.  I have spoken of the study recently published that looked at a large number of people diagnosed with MS already and found that 10% of them had no O-Bands even well into their illness.

Quix