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246236 tn?1275478902

oligo bands

does anyone know the significance of the number of oligo bands found in the CSF?  the specialist that I just went to said I had 10 and that 5 is indicative of an MS diagnosis (or something like that?).  I just didn't know how to look at that number.  Do I look at it as just 5 more or twice what would indicate MS?  Am I even making sense?  Just curious "how bad" that number is.  Angela
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5112396 tn?1378017983
Hi Amanda!

You've posted on a thread that's very old. Your question might unintentionally get lost in the shuffle. You might consider posting a new question, which will put yours top of the pile. There's a button at the top of this page that says "Post a Question". It will take you through the steps. I'll put my response here, as I'm sure your concerns can't wait, but if you repost your question as a fresh thread, I'll copy and paste my response there as well.

Was this doctor a specialist of some kind? There are other things besides MS that can cause hyperintensities on an MRI and unique o-bands, but none of those things I can think of should be met with a shrug of the shoulders when it's regarding someone so young.

I do not know what your daughter might be dealing with, as I'm just a layman, but it might be prudent to track down a specialist. MS specialists can be tricky to find, much less those who have experience with the uncommon paediatric manifestation, so it might be an idea to consult the MS Society. Alternatively, I would really press her doctors to explain what might have contributed to her results and why they don't feel it's of note. If their responses don't seem to stand up to scrutiny, at the very least get her a second opinion with a neurologist on these results.
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Avatar universal
Can you help me HVAC or anyone?  My daughter has 2 O bands in her CSF with none in her serum and she also has some slight T2 ventricular white matter hyperintensities.  They haven't found it to be anything.  The doctor was excited bc he said she didn't have lesions.  I'm concerned though bc of the O bands.  She's only 8!  Could it be something other than MS?  She has left sided weakness weaker than her body, but her body is still weak so she has hypotonia.  She has intellectual disability, severe autism, left sided weakness in her face (started later), urinary frequency, lots of other stuff.
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667078 tn?1316000935
What assistance do you need.? The diarrhea and fever have nothing to do with MS and are unusual after a LP. If you still have a fever I would call a GP. For a MS diagnosis one o-band is not definitive. That said many people are diagnosed with negative LPs. No test rules MS in or out. It is a combination of your history, symptoms, neurological exams, MRIs, and blood work to rule other illnesses out.

Alex
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Avatar universal
I have been waiting on results of LP.   I finally went and got records from hospital yesterday.  They show only one o band and it is not present in serum. Igg is elevated. MRI stated chages consistent with my diagnosis of MS.  ( although have no previous dx of MS.  However last night I had some diarrhea then fever chills and hurt in every joint in my body.  So bad could hardly walk. Felt like was going to pass out.  This morning still ache but not as bad fever is gone...tired.  any input would be of assistance.
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246236 tn?1275478902
Thanks Quix, your explanation is much appreciated.  By the way, how are you feeling?  I noticed you'd been MIA from the forum and I hope you're doing okay.  Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions/ponderings!  Angela
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147426 tn?1317265632
Hi,.  That's quite a hefty # of O-bands, there!  The exact number really doesn't matter.  Different specialists use different numbers and, in reality, any O-bands is suggestive of (but not diagnostic of) MS.  I had an elevated IgG index and only one O-band (my neuro would have preferred 2 or more) but it was still considered a postive result.

An oligoclonal band is a stripe on the test that looks at all the antibodies being produced in either the blood or the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid).  The test shows the antibodies as they "migrate" down a ribbon and show up normally as a wide hazy band of thousands of different antibodies, which everyone has.  But, in inflammatory diseases, one antibody-producing cell line will have a huge number of cells, that is there is a clone of cells (called plasma cells) making one particular antibody.  That antibody will be present in far larger amounts than other antibodies.  On the test a clone of cells making one antibody will show up as a shrap, narrow "band."

"Oligo" means few.  So OligoClonal indicates a group of cloned cells making an antibody.

When they send the CSF for testing, they also draw blood, preferably the same day.  They run the test looking for antibodies and especially the bright, sharp "bands" which indicate a clone of cells at work.  If there is inflammation in the body there may be several "oligoclonal bands" in the blood test.  In normal circumstances these same bands would be expected to be in the spinal fluid.  So they compare the bands seen in the body (if any) to any band seen in the CSF.  If the bands match up, it just means there is a systemic inflammatory process in the body.  Most often there are bands out in the body, but not in the CSF.

If there is an inflammatory process occuring in the Central Nervous System (CNS), then the immune system is active locally in the brain and/or spine and produces antibodies.  In MS and some other diseases like infections (Lyme, encephalitis, etc) there will be O-Bands in the CSF.  But, when they compare the bands from the CSF with any bands in the blood, the CSF will have some that are NOT present in the bloodstream.  This means the O-Bands are actually being produced in the Central Nervous System.  These unique bands are the ones they count as "Positive" when they test the spinal fluid.

The significance of the number of oligoclonal band in your case is just that there is quite a lot of immune activity going on in your CNS.  That also implies a lot of inflammation, but mostly it is evidence of unusual (abnormal) immune activity.  Your result is highly suggestive of MS, but we have discussed that before and by now, you have seen the neuro specialist.  I'll go over and respond to that post.

Quix
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246236 tn?1275478902
Thanks for the insights on the bands.  Still not sure of what the significance is in the number, but I'm going to call the specialist in the morning I think because it's kinda bugging me!  I have a lot of muscle weakness on my left side, numb patches in different areas of my body, fatigue, bladder retention and urgency (more retention than urgency)...those are a few of my  main symptoms.  I'll let the forum know if I find out anything from the neuro.  Thanks again!  Angela
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220917 tn?1309784481
Hi, Angela~

I thought that anything more than 2 would be enough to investigate MS.  I think Quix had two bands when she was diagnosed (with other diagnosing criteria).  I'm not sure of much more than that.  I see what you're asking.  I would say that 10 bands seems rather high, indicating a lot of disease activity, perhaps.  How do you feel in terms of functioning?  Do you feel you've lost much?  Your leg function, bladder, eyes... I know you stated you have had lots of symptoms.  It's just so hard to keep track of everyone, and I'm sorry I don't remember all your symptoms.  

It may be that you do have lots of disease activity without loss of function.  That would be great!  That they've caught everything early enough so that they can stop the progression NOW before anything more is lost.

I hope that helps a little.  Wish I knew more...

Zilla*
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