Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 I have seen several references to poor work done by athena labs. The reason I am concerned is because the tissue from my last muscle biopsy was sent there and am awaiting those results. From what I have read, they don't have a very good track record. Any thoughts or advice would be helpful in case the results from this last biopsy prove to be less than helpful. Thanks!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 If the report from Athena comes back negative or inconclusive, you can send all of teh medical reports to Dr. Shoffner for review. He looked at lies' and basically said, this is so typical of Athena....fromeverything I've reviewed she fits the mito picture and a fresh biopsy is indicated. We did a fresh biopsy three moths later and received a dignosis confirming mitochondrial disease. lanebristow@...> wrote:I have seen several references to poor work done by athena labs. The reason I am concerned is because the tissue from my last muscle biopsy was sent there and am awaiting those results. From what I have read, they don't have a very good track record. Any thoughts or advice would be helpful in case the results from this last biopsy prove to be less than helpful. Thanks!! Medical advice, information, opinions, data and statements contained herein are not necessarily those of the list moderators. The author of this e mail is entirely responsible for its content. List members are reminded of their responsibility to evaluate the content of the postings and consult with their physicians regarding changes in their own treatment. Personal attacks are not permitted on the list and anyone who sends one is automatically moderated or removed depending on the severity of the attack. --------------------------------- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 27, 2005 Report Share Posted June 27, 2005 Back in December my doc ordered a MITO panel for me and a sample of my blood was sent to Athena. Months later I received the results, but I discovered that Athena had instead done the wrong panel (CMT). Athena's web site says they must have very fresh blood (2-3 days max) for EACH of these panels, and also lists different " tops " for the tube collections of each. CMT says " Yellow top, ACD-A " , MITO says " Lavender top (EDTA) " . Both say " avoid freezing " . Nonetheless, they re-tested my now months old (not frozen???) blood for mito. In May, Athena declared me " present " for the most common (80%) of the MERRF mutations, " tRNA Lys A8344G " . So I'll " take it " , but I certainly don't trust them much. I will never know who made the mistake that resulted in the wrong panel, but I suspect it was at my doc's office, not Athena. In a couple of phone conversations with Athena, I got a distinct impression of Keystone Cops. Annoyingly, there is no way to simply go in to the Athena building (in Worcester, MA) and get blood drawn VERY fresh, and not shipped at all. Pity, as I live less than two hours away (Cape Cod) and would gladly have gone there, especially for the re-test. Sorry, I don't know anything about muscle biopsies there. But I would completely ignore any claim they make about " fresh " anything. Steve D. > Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 16:42:34 -0000 > > Subject: athena labs > > I have seen several references to poor work done by athena labs. The > reason I am concerned is because the tissue from my last muscle biopsy > was sent there and am awaiting those results. From what I have read, > they don't have a very good track record. Any thoughts or advice would > be helpful in case the results from this last biopsy prove to be less > than helpful. Thanks!! > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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