abnormal Lymph cells in spinal Fluid

Posted By  CCF Neuro MD on October 29, 1997 at 11:29:50:

In Reply to: abnormal Lymph cells in spinal Fluid posted by Michael Woods on October 27, 1997 at 22:20:25:

: First of all thanks for reviewing the following information
   I have had three spinal taps done in the last year, all
  of the reports are as followed..
  Cerebrospinal fluid.
  test name Oligoclonal bands neg
            cryptocaccal antigen neg
            
    color clear
          colorless
   WBC (fluid) 3
   RBC (fluid) 0
   Lymphs      95 H
   Monos        5 L
   No growth in three days
  The all of the fluid on the third test was sent to the
  Armed Forces institute of Pathology in Washington D.C.
  they said there where abnormal lymphosite cells that they
  were unable to diagnose at this time...
  What I am asking, is this something I should be concerned
  about?
  My symptoms are,  Severe headaches almost constent, short
  and long term memory problems at times, Dizziness, passing
  out for a few secs. at a time, blurred vision sometimes,
  chest pains, tingleling in hands and feet, numbness in right
  lower leg at times, lower back pain, and gastroreflux.
   I have also had a MRI of brain, it was neg other than polyps
  in sinus
    MRI of back neg other than showed begining of degenerative joints
    EEG normal...
  Well that is about all I can tell you about my self other than
  I am 28 yrs old and a Gulf War Veteran...
  I am being seen in The VA clinic by a general physcian..
  I moved here about four months ago from Louisville Ky This
  new doctor i am seeing sees no reason to refer me to any other
  phycians at this time..He says nothing else can be done to
  diagnose my problems that has not allready been done..should
  I take that to be true and not be concerned with my health?

[CF-Neuro-MD]

_
Dear Michael,
Well first I have some questions for you...  Did the amount of WBC change in your CSF in any of the 3 taps???
I mean, were they increasing or decreasing or staying the same.  I thought from your note
that they were staying the same but I wanted to confirm that.
If you had an infection I'd expect the number of WBC to increase. Th common infections were ruled out but a viral infection was not ruled out but I'd expect more WBC if you hada viral infection.
The Oligoclonal bands are a sign of inflammatin that is seen with MS but it is not the only test that can be done with MS.
There are tests called Myelin Basic Protein, Tourtelottes and Free Kappa Light Chains that also can help to see if there is inflammation present in your CSF that is seen in MS.
The fact that you Brain MRI was normal makes MS more unlikely but not impossible.  I would say that a neurological opinion would be helpful
as you continue to have multiple complaints without a diagnosis.
A neurological examination could help to determine if any part of the nervous system, brain or spinal cord, are affected bya process then the next step would be to
diagnose the causative factor.  Good Luck!