ANA results
 

Hi everyone, I'm hoping someone out there can give me more information.
Last April I suffered a severe heart attack and found out that i had actually suffered a few of them. As a result I suffered some heart damage and my function was down to 25%, we did manage to bring my function up to 30% but ended up having a defibrillator implanted in August. A day after it was installed, one of the leads had perforated the heart wall and had to be redone. When I woke up from the surgery I felt that I had a pinched nerve in my neck which the Dr's ignored.
For the next month I was on pain killers and couldn't lay on my left side. Finally I was able to lay on my left side but things were still not correct with continued pain in my neck and shoulder areas. I went to a chiropractor but with no results so I have finally visited my GP. He feels I have a connective tissue disorder and ran a number of test, one of these was an ANA test that came back with a positive result of Speckled 1:640 (A).
I have an appointment with a rheumatologist however this isn't until the end of April so I'm hoping someone here might have some information.
I should also mention that in about 2008 I was tentatively diagnosed with Ocular Myesthenia gravis due to some vision issues. This took about a year to clear up but I haven't had any issues with this since.

Thanks for any input.

There are two parts to an anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) test.

The first is the titre - the larger this number, the more anti-nuclear antibodies are present in the blood. Yours (1:640) is high. The second is the staining pattern of your anti-nuclear antibodies in the nuclei of your cells - that is what "speckled" means.

An abnormal ANA test suggests but is not necessarily diagnostic of an autoimmune disease - systemic lupus erythematosus is a possibility though there are others. Your rheumatologist will probably want to discuss other investigations when you see him/her.

This general information about ANA tests might help you in preparation for your meeting with the rheumatologist; http://www.medicinenet.com/antinucle...dy/article.htm.

Dear kiwi,

GREAT explanation.

I would add that sometimes, as happened with me, you can get a false positive on an ANA.

The doc that ordered my ANA test was alarmed when my results came in as I had several other symptoms of Lupus. Upon seeing the rheumatologist, it was determined that it was a false positive.

Dear Whitecap,

Sorry you will have to wait until the end of April to see the rheumatologist but he will be able to provide you with information you seek. Until then, try not to worry.

I am also sorry to hear what you have been through after having the cardiac device placed.

Wishing you the best.

My apology
 

Dear kiwi,

My sincere apology of my post "adding" false positives in my comment. You DID mention that and I just read too fast to notice.

So I highlighted it in the quote to emphasize my sincere apology for my addition that was NOT an "addition".

I should have realized when it was a post from you, that you would not have overlooked mentioning it.

Thanks again for the great explanations that you always provide in your postings.

No problem Hopeless.

You explained the idea of a false positive better than I did and I am sure, (especially in the light of your personal experience of a possible SLE diagnosis), that it is something that Whitecap will find helpful when s/he meets with the rheumatologist.

I would like to thank both of you for your input. At this point I'm assuming that things are not so bad that I can't wait for my appointment, I just wasn't sure if that high of a reading was a sign that things were bad or not.

Again thanks for your input.

Dear Whitecap,

Please let us know how things go at your appt. with the rheumatologist.

We will be waiting to hear some news and hope that it will be "good" news as in my case.