Hello,
I am looking for help in understanding my blood test results and would appreciate any input. I had my GP order these because after doing some research I felt multiple myeloma could possibly be behind the pains I've had for some time now. I do have some health anxiety and this has me worried.
By the way, I am 32 years old and this all started a couple of months back when I got pneumonia for the first time ever, which I found strange because I hardly get sick. I started looking through my blood test results from this day I was diagnosed with pneumonia and I noticed some abnormal results (which I guess were normal at the time considering I had pneumonia.) I then decided to go through all of my past blood test results, which I always get copies of, and I noticed I had borderline high calcium, total protein and globulin levels. I've also had unexplained right side back, rib and shoulder pain on and off for the past 2 years and all of a sudden developed some right knee and upper hip pain a couple of months back for no apparent reason. I did get an X-ray of my hip and lower back but have not gotten those results yet and I am scheduled for an MRI of my knee.
These are my results:
Immunoglobulin G 1806 (H) 700 - 1600 mg/dl
Immunoglobulin A 196 91 - 414 mg/dl
Immunoglobulin M 171 40 - 230 mg/dl
Protein Electrophoresis
Albumin 4.1 3.2 - 5.6 g/dl
Alpha-1-globulin 0.2 0.1 - 0.4 g/dl
Alpha-2-globulin 0.7 0.4 - 1.2 g/dl
Beta globulin 1.1 0.6 - 1.3 g/dl
Gamma globulin 1.9 (H) 0.5 - 1.6 g/dl
Globulin 3.9 2.0 - 4.5 g/dl
A/g ratio 1.1 0.7 - 2.0
M-spike Not observed
Immunofixation electrophoresis 1
Comment: An apparent polyclonal gammopathy:
IgG kappa and lambda typing appear increased.
Kappa free light chain quant 11.92 3.30 - 19.40 mg/l
Lamba free light chain quant 13.69 5.71 - 26.30 mg/l
Kappa/lambda fr light chn ratio 0.87 0.26 - 1.65
I'm confused as to why it says "kappa and lambda typing appear increased" since they are within range?
Also, shouldn't the immunofixation electrophoresis state whether or not monoclonal immunoglobulin was seen or am I missing something?
I'm just very confused and don't know what exactly this means and what my next steps should be.
Thanks in advance
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Re: Immunofixation and FLC results seem to disagree
First off, I'm not a doc and only a doc should provide you with a medical interpretation of these test results.
An immunofixation (IFE) test does not measure the amounts of any protein. It only detects their presence (the test itself just just returns a series of smudges on a panel of gel), but it does so pretty precisely.
Immunoglobulins (aka heavy chains) like IgG get paired up with kappa and lambda light chains in what are known as heavy/light chain (HLC) pairs. Your IFE is stating that you have an increase in POLYCLONAL(normal) IgG that is likely paired up with both kappa and lambda light chains, but makes no mention of MONOCLONAL proteins (this is good news if you are worrying about multiple myeloma). And just because the IFE detected an increase in kappa and lambda typing, that does not mean that one would see the free light chain numbers (which are detached from the heavy chains and are floating around "freely") go out of range.
Your serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP) test measures the actual amount of any MONOCLONAL proteins through a value known as an M-spike. You have no M-spike (again, this is good news). So, your increased IgG level is very likely NOT due to a monoclonal gammopathy such as multiple myeloma.
In summary, you have no detected or measured monoclonal immunoglobulins and all your free light chain values are normal. This very likely means that you don't have a monoclonal gammopathy such as multiple myeloma (hurray!).
Your increased IgG could potentially be explained by a viral infection like pneumonia, but only your doctor can make this call and he will want to rule out any other possible explanations for a detected polyclonal gammopathy. I also suspect that your doc will want to run all of these tests again in a few months to see if your results return to normal levels, but that is only a guess.
Lastly, I might suggest having a hematologist interpret these results in addition to a GP. Hope this helps. Let us know how things turn out.
An immunofixation (IFE) test does not measure the amounts of any protein. It only detects their presence (the test itself just just returns a series of smudges on a panel of gel), but it does so pretty precisely.
Immunoglobulins (aka heavy chains) like IgG get paired up with kappa and lambda light chains in what are known as heavy/light chain (HLC) pairs. Your IFE is stating that you have an increase in POLYCLONAL(normal) IgG that is likely paired up with both kappa and lambda light chains, but makes no mention of MONOCLONAL proteins (this is good news if you are worrying about multiple myeloma). And just because the IFE detected an increase in kappa and lambda typing, that does not mean that one would see the free light chain numbers (which are detached from the heavy chains and are floating around "freely") go out of range.
Your serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP) test measures the actual amount of any MONOCLONAL proteins through a value known as an M-spike. You have no M-spike (again, this is good news). So, your increased IgG level is very likely NOT due to a monoclonal gammopathy such as multiple myeloma.
In summary, you have no detected or measured monoclonal immunoglobulins and all your free light chain values are normal. This very likely means that you don't have a monoclonal gammopathy such as multiple myeloma (hurray!).
Your increased IgG could potentially be explained by a viral infection like pneumonia, but only your doctor can make this call and he will want to rule out any other possible explanations for a detected polyclonal gammopathy. I also suspect that your doc will want to run all of these tests again in a few months to see if your results return to normal levels, but that is only a guess.
Lastly, I might suggest having a hematologist interpret these results in addition to a GP. Hope this helps. Let us know how things turn out.
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Multibilly - Name: Multibilly
- Who do you know with myeloma?: Me
- When were you/they diagnosed?: Smoldering, Nov, 2012
Re: Immunofixation and FLC results seem to disagree
Thank you very much for your help, I really do appreciate it
I am definitely considering having a hematologist look over my tests because I'm not sure my GP really knows what he's talking about. The pneumonia I had was several months back and I have not been sick lately so I'm not sure what my elevated IgG is all about. I'm scheduled to see a rheumatologist next month so I'm hoping she can help figure some things out.
I am definitely considering having a hematologist look over my tests because I'm not sure my GP really knows what he's talking about. The pneumonia I had was several months back and I have not been sick lately so I'm not sure what my elevated IgG is all about. I'm scheduled to see a rheumatologist next month so I'm hoping she can help figure some things out.
3 posts
• Page 1 of 1