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Can anyone interpret the following description of the results of a blood test I was given for systemic autoimmune disease? (I will having a doctor interpret these results for me in late December, but I have to say I’d like to get some insight a little sooner.) The results do seem to say I have active systemic autoimmune disease and yet I have no symptoms. It seems strange.
From the blood test: “Antibodies to Anti-Nuclear Antibodies (ANA) detected. Additional testing to follow. Interpretive information: Anti-nuclear Antibodies (ANA), IgG by ELISA: ANA specimens are screened using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methodology. All ELISA results reported as Detected are further tested by indirect fluorescent assay (IFA) using HEp-2 substrate with an IgG-specific conjugate. The ANA ELISA screen is designed to detect antibodies against dsDNA, histones, SS-A (Ro), SS-B (La), Smith, Smith/RNP, s I-70, Jo-1, centromeric proteins, other antigens extracted from the HEp-2 cell nucleus. ANA ELISA assays have been reported to have lower sensitivities ....” etc., etc.,
It seems that certain antibodies indicative of systemic autoimmune disease were found in my blood and that they are going to do further testing. What further testing could they be doing? Would they be testing for specific autoimmune diseases? Or ...?
Not sure my ANA is positive and they gave a ratio and pattern type. That being said they can’t figure out what I have and I’ve had every test they can think of. Good luck.
First is presence or absence of antibodies....if absent test stops there..
If antibodies present typically the next step is a titer, serial dilutions to determine the level of antibody reactivity, low titer might be 1:40, high titer 1:400 or more....
Third part is the "pattern" in a positive sample such as speckled or nucleolar...patterns may give clues to certain autoimmune conditions such as Lupus
Just because your test is positive doesn't mean it is clinically significant, low titer positive tests are not usually significant.
In the case of a high titer positive test typically Rheumatologist will order specialized testing to explore the result further....
Thanks! And I have also read cancer can trigger false positives and I definitely have cancer ....
I was given the test because my medical oncologist is on the fence about immunotherapy and might refuse to give it if he think I have too much of an autoimmune risk. I’m trying not to stress about this. Not much I can do at the moment (besides post on C-D, lol).
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