Hello, I’ve just received a letter from my Neurologist regarding my Lumbar Puncture and I really don’t understand it 
I’ve tried good ol’ Google and that’s made me more confused. Hopefully someone is able to help 
So, the letter states that there’s oligoclonal bands present in the cerebrospinal fluid that were not present in the serum consistent with inflammatory process in the central nervous system? Does anyone understand what that means? The neurologist did state that he would be in contact in the near future to discuss but it’s waiting and the unknown
Hello
Welcome to the forum. I’m sorry you’ve had call to find yourself here.
I don’t want to frighten the life out of you, but what your neurologist has described is one of the indicators for MS. Have a look at Lumbar puncture | MS Trust This will explain what oligoclonal bands are and their place within the diagnosis of MS. Note that not everyone with ‘O’ bands has MS. Nor that everyone with MS has ‘O’ bands in their CSF. But it’s strongly indicative.
Have you had MRI scans? And did they show up lesions that were described as ‘demyelinating’ lesions? That could be another marker.
Randomly googling tests and symptoms is a pretty bad idea by the way (as is relying on advice from someone unqualified - like me!) Getting information from your MS nurse (if you have one), waiting for the neurologist to explain himself in language that you can understand, or at a push, using information from reliable sources like the MS Trust or this site (look at the top of this page, follow the link to MS Society Home and then the About MS tag) are all preferable.
Best of luck. Saying that you shouldn’t rely on us (me), doesn’t mean stop asking for help, we’re glad to share our experience and knowledge. But do check information on reputable sites.
Sue
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Hello Sue,
Thank you for taking your time to reply, I really appreciate it.
I’ve currently had 2 mris, 1st one showed inflammation on my brain and spine, the second I had with contrast to see if the inflammation is active? I’m still waiting on the results of this. I’ve also had number ours bloods taken and yet to have results of them. Hopefully I get answers soon as not knowing and trying to understand things are the worst.
Roz
I think @Ssssue has answered it well.
However, i get really annoyed with this. why send you a letter like that. when i had my results of LP i was given an appointment to talk it through, not a piece of garbage scientific nonsense which just serves to upset us.
I would have thought though if it was MS your neurologist would have made an appointment or at least rang you.
I think the waiting all the time is just the worse. x
I completely agree CC, the neurologist is just plain wrong to send out a letter like that.
Not that I got any results from my LP at all. But then in 1997 they didn’t actually think the patient had any reason to get results from a test. Since I had no idea what they were doing nor why they might be doing it I wasn’t expecting results.
(You’d have been surprised at what an ignorant fool I was when I was 30 and knew nothing! The newly/un-diagnosed of today are much better informed than I was.)
Sue