Guest guest Posted October 21, 2003 Report Share Posted October 21, 2003 Laurie, Thanks for explaining Ralph's ANA test results. I had never seen the results for an ANA written the way his were. Mine are always written as 1:80, 1:160, 1:320, etc. and also the pattern is given. The last that mine was positive was back in Sep 01 and it was 1:320 and speckled. It's been checked 2 times since then and was actually negative. My rheumy says that is because the plaquenil is helping to keep the lupus under control. I have both lupus and autoimmune hepatitis and a positive ANA goes along with both of those diseases, yet my last two ANAs have been negative. Despite that, my doctors say they have no doubt that I really do have systemic lupus and AIH (I guess because my ANA is positive when I am not on plaquenil). Anyway, thanks for the lesson on the lab values. W Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted October 21, 2003 Report Share Posted October 21, 2003 Hi , I am glad that you found my explanation helpful. I hope Ralph does too. With regards to your report: It is written that way because the lab that performed your test still uses the " gold standard " method of immunofluorescence. Although the method that Ralph's lab uses is accepted and is very appropriate for screening the general population, the IFA method is more useful for rheumatologists and their patients. However, it is very time consuming and open to technologist interpretation. This is why many labs have opted to go to the other methodology. Tests can be run faster, in bigger groups and have less subjective interpretations. Because we are a small lab that works almost exclusively with rheumatologists and their patients, we are still able to offer the more time consuming method. I consider this a very big advantage to the patients that are seen by this group of rheumatolgists. Your results are typical of patients that I see in our rheum lab. I am very happy that your immunosuppresive therapy has resulted in " non-detectable " levels of antibody in your blood. That is the goal of treatment and must please your rheum doc very much. Laurie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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