Hi everyone just had my lp results letter in today and I’m a bit confused, hoping someone can help. The letter reads that they a CSF report with a positive oligoclonal bands and a negative serum which can be consistent with demyelinating disease such as ms. I don’t understand the positive and negatives, what dose it all mean do I have ms. Any help would be great as I don’t think I’m going to sleep well. Many thanks Lisa.
Hi I have no idea about reports but just wanted to send a hug and bump you up. Sonia x
hiya
a lp does not confirm an ms diagnosis. its just a small part of the jigsaw-means nothing on its own-sorry if you hoped for a more definite answer but… hope u sleep… ellie
From what I understand if you have oligodendricites in the CSF then those are the damaged/dead cells as a result of the demylination of the myelin sheath.
Do you have a neuro who can talk with you about the LP results?
Hi Lisa Ellie is correct the result of a LP alone wouldn’t confirm a diagnosis, they would use this along with other evidence ie MRI scans, VEP test. I don’t know what negative serum means but when I had my LP with positive oligoclonal bands this was used along with my MRI results to confirm a diagnosis, this wasn’t straight away as was first diagnosed with Clinical isolated syndrome it was only after a repeat of MRI scans showed more lesions was I diagnosed. I’m sure you will have a follow up to discuss the result and explain them fully to you. Take care Polly x
Hi Lisa, Others are right that LP results on their own prove nothing. However, in combination with other evidence, this result would tend to suppport an MS diagnosis. When they do an LP, they compare results from the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) with those from blood (serum), looking for discrepancies between the two. If it was positive in the CSF AND in serum as well, it could indicate something was wrong, but that it wasn’t confined to the brain and spinal cord - therefore not MS. However, if it’s positive in the CSF but negative in serum, it indicates something going in the brain and spinal cord only, not more widely. This is suggestive of a disease process that attacks the CNS only, not whole body. Of these, the most common would be MS, but I think there are some rarer things that could produce similar results. From memory, about 15% of LPs yield false negative OR false positive results. That’s why it’s important to interpret it in the light of other evidence, and not accept it as proof by itself. Tina
Thankyou everyone for your comments, I have an appointment with the ms nurse on Wednesday to discuss the mater. She told me that I have rrms before I went for the lp, but neuro want to confirm it with a lp, looks like it’s been confirmed to me. Thanks again everyone.