Is it normal to have ANY o-bands in CSF?

[SOONERMOM]

I finally had my LP results faxed to me at work and was shocked to see that I had one 0-band.  It is considered a positive test if it is 4 or more.  I always thought that it was 2 or more, but my lab report says 4.  Is this something new?

Is it something I should worry about or what??  Gee, all I was told was that it was all negative (which I guess "technically" it was)  Also, I had a high WBC & RBC in the CSF, which I wasn't told about.  Of course the RBC was probably from the numerous attempts he made at my spine ;)

Is it normal or insignificant to have even one 0-band (CSF)??

Thanks,

Stacey

[SOONERMOM]

They did run the IgG index and it was all normal.

I had called ahead and found out that they send this test out to the Mayo Clinic at Rochester for the testing(the newest method).  The results have my local hospital's name on them and it says that because I had 3 or less bands that it is a negative result.  okay, at the bottom it does say Mayo clinic dpt of lab med & pathology.  

How could their reference normal be different than any other lab?

I find it really odd that my neuro didn't mention it to me at all.   Don't you think he should have?  Of course he ended our conversation with "I really wish you were cooking all this up"  I mean, seriously...I have numerous symptoms & WML's and one o-band. (he won't even consider the positive western blot for lyme)
I don't get him.  I  soooo wanted to be done w/neurologists!!!

Stacey

[Quixotic1]

Whoaaaa, there.  It is true that 1 O-Band is in the normal range, it is actually unusual for anyone to have O-Bands at all.  They include 1 band in the CSF as normal, because there are enough people that have "one" that it isn't as conclusive.  A good neurologist will still see it as an suggestive abnormality, as mine did.  I only had one O-Band, my neuro would have liked to have seen 2 or more, but he stated that it was still abnormal.

People with CNS infections can have one.  People with Lyme disease will have them occasionally.  And rarely a person with no neurologic disease will have one, but it is still not a normal finding.

So, the one O-Band points toward MS but, must be used as additional evidence only.

Did they run an IgG-Index?

Stating that positive is four or more is totally off the wall!  I have never read of any group proposing that.  The norm is 2 or more to be considered a "true positive" for the sake of diagnosing MS.

Quix

[SOONERMOM]

Thanks guys, I found this at the bottom of the Health page on LP's:

One unique band in the CSF can be seen in normal people or in people with a CNS infection.

[jensequitur]

One o-band is not anything to worry about.  Check out Quix's health page on oligoclonal banding - at least I think she's written one about banding.  Or maybe it's one of the posts...

Anyway, mine came back with five distinct bands.

[MrsPriz]

My first CSF came back with 6 bands.  18 months later the 2nd one showed 9 bands.  I was the one who was refusing to accept an MS diagnosis and agreed to see a regional specialist my neuro wanted me to see at the start of all this.

True confession.  even though I have started treatment..  I am still totally in denial.  Keep asking my Rheumy if this all couldn't really be related to my Psoriatic Arthritis.
But that conversation is an entirely different post!

~Debbi

[sllowe]

Hey there -

Mine came back positive.  They never gave a number - go figure!

There is a table in the Health Pages w/the O-bands and Pos vs. Neg reporting, etc. . .check it out


-SL

[mae1]

My LP came back neg. with no O bands. I was still given a dx. due to my MRI and clinical exam.
I'm sorry I have'nt been here in awhile but what did your MRI show.
april

[Heather3418]

Although I had plenty of other evidence to prove I had MS, I was definitively diagnosis with MS with only ONE band in my CSF.  That was over 10 years ago, so I don't know what my spinal fluid would show today, if I had another LP.

Hope more folks on the Forum will come along and tell you more than I can.

Best Wishes,
Heather