Lumbar test positive

[cooper214]

Afternoon everyone, I had my lumbar test last wed for MS, My dr. called yesterday with the result, he said everything came back fine, except I have the banding both in the spinal fluid and also the blood, so he is ordering tests I beleive for both lupus and rematoid arthyritis (sp), so I am not out of the woods yet but I am so happy I found a dr. that is "on the ball" has anyone had the banding in both? does anyone have ms and lupus or remaoid arthyritus?  he also was testing me for a blood disorder (not enough blood reaching the brain) but that came back negative.. I beleive I am starting to reach the "un" limbo stage,, thanks all

[santana8]

So I wonder what my LP means being that it is negative all together? Heather said that  you can have a negative LP and still have MS. I wonder if that is the case  why is it negative and will it eventually become positive if I really do end up being dx with MS?

Santana

[essdipity]

Wikipedia states that 75-85% of those with "definite" MS are positive for O bands in the CSF. There is a footnote which cites a study, but that study is not available on line, apparently.

Members of this forum more knowledgeable than I have said that nearly everyone with MS will have a positive LP ultimately, though I don't know how many people ever have more than one LP. There do need to be substances in the CSF not found in the blood for the test to indicate MS.  

ess

[santana8]

I guess  that mine must have been negative because he said nothing showed up, not even from the polyomerce chain reaction he ran on my spinal fluid to check for PML and other things. He said it was all negative. I didn't know how to break it all down when I got the  results but the next time I see him then I will ask more specific questions now that I know what to ask. Thanks a  lot you have been a lot of  help to me today.

Santana

[Heather3418]

If inflammatory cells are not found in the blood and no banding of inflammation is found in your CSF, it's all negative.  So NO, not everyone walking around will have inflammatory findings in their blood.  It is found in someone that has an inflammatory response somewhere in their body.

[santana8]

All he told me was that the LP was negative and showed no O banding. What I was refering to was does the statement no O banding mean none in the spinal fluid or in the blood, or does it mean that there is not more in the spinal fluid than the blood? And does everyone have O banding in the blood even if they don't have any disease like this?

Santana

[Heather3418]

If one band shows or none, the test is considered negative. I'm not sure what you meant by the question, if it's negative what does this mean?  If it means what I think you mean, YES someone can still have a negative LP and have MS.  I think the percentage is around 8%.

[santana8]

If the neuro says that your LP was negative, does this mean that there is no O banding at all?  And if so what does this mean?

Santana

[Heather3418]

As I researched, I found that if there is an equal amount of bands seen in the CSF AND the blood it is NOT indicative of MS.  When you see more banding in the CSF than the blood it IS indicative of MS.

Therefore, you can have banding in your blood and the Cerebral Spinal Fluid and still be positive for disease such as MS.  And also, Lupus and many other's.

Heather

[sllowe]

   There is a little chart here on this link re: Banding and associated diseases.  I cannot speak to it's accuracy, but it's a start.

http://www.clinlabnavigator.com/Tests/OligoclonalBandsinCSF.html

[sllowe]

I'll look for that thread - remember something about it too.

Believe when it's in the CF only they can confirm that it's from the CNS.  Do not know what it means, or what causes it in both......

I'll dig further,

-SL

[santana8]

I am not possitive but I think I remember reading a post from quix or heather about the O banding showing up in both the spinal fluid and the blood. If I recall correctly they said that the test was only possitive if the O banding showed up in the spinal fluid and not the blood. Maybe you could post a question to one of them and check on this to be sure. I don't know a lot about this test but I do remember reading this  in one of thier post. My LP came back negative with no O banding so I didn't really look into it any deeper at that time. If you want to ask one of them about this one!

Take Care
Santana

[sllowe]

Hey Coop!

Have you heard back on what they thought about the O-banding in the CF and the Blood Serum?

Let us know when you can,
be well,
SL

[nikki861]

Yes, I agree there is power in knowing. That way we quit guessing and make a plan of attack. Knowing what the problem is  .............is half the battle. Our minds tend to take over and run crazy with all the "what ifs". Hopefully you are headed in the right direction!

Blessings,
Beth

[wyfrog]

hi there.  i was reading old posts and found this.  sorry no one has responded.  i was diagnosed in dec 07.  i had an episode in 2000 of everything below my waist went numb, coordination and balance problems, talking and memory problems, feet burning and a case of occular nueritis in 07 and only 1 lesion in my spine.  the spinal tap and blood test is what finally brought the diagnosis .  i had high o bands in spinal fluid and blood too.  all else was ruled out before diagnosis was made.  i hope all goes well for you and you get an answer soon.  there seems to be power in knowing.